Spain's Supreme Court has upheld a fine of 1,080 euros imposed on a man who turned up at a police station naked and refused repeated requests to dress.
Public nudity has been legal in Spain since 1988 but people can be prosecuted under laws against public disturbance if their state of undress provokes or disturbs others, and some regions have introduced local laws to regulate nudism.
A provincial court had slapped the fine for "disobedience" after the man entered a police station in the Mediterranean port of Valencia on August 20, 2020 "completely naked, despite having clothes to wear in a backpack, to lodge a complaint against a person," the Supreme Court's press office said in a statement made public Friday.
Police ordered him to get dressed since he "was disturbing the normal functioning of the office" but he "clearly and categorically refused", arguing he had the right to go naked.He was then arrested.
The man appealed the fine but the Supreme Court dismissed his legal challenge, according to a ruling dated October 3.
It said it considers the orders the police gave to get dressed "‘were necessary to maintain public order and peaceful coexistence".
The ruling gave only the man's initials but Spanish media identified him as Alejandro Colomar, who has a history of being fined for stripping in public.
He made headlines in Spain in September 2022 for trying to enter a court in Valencia wearing only boots for a trial for walking naked in public.