Barcelona moves to keep bikinis off the streets

Authorities in Barcelona, fed up with tourists wandering the streets in their swimming costumes, are preparing a massive campaign to convince them to put on clothes when they leave the beach.

"We want to make people understand that it's an attitude that we don't like, that it's not banned or punishable but that it's something we don't think is civil," a spokeswoman for the city hall said Friday.

Municipal authorities in the seaside Spanish city have already printed posters showing a couple in swimming costumes with a red line across it, along with another couple dressed normally but without the red line.

"In the coming weeks we are going to put up the posters in the metro, buses and in all public areas," the spokeswoman said.

"And the mayor has sent letters to businesses, hotels, bars, restaurants ... encouraging them to download the poster and paste on their walls."

The city hall had no figures on how many visitors walk through the streets in their bikinis, swimsuits or swimming trunks. "It's just a perception," said the spokeswoman,

The beaches and cultural attractions of the capital of Spain's northeastern Catalonia region draw millions of foreign visitors each year.