Swingers in the sand dunes: Canary Islands cops launch crackdown on sex-mad tourists who are stripping off for al fresco hook-ups at a nature reserve

Sex-crazed tourists seeking encounters in a rare wildlife habitat in the Canary Islands have sparked a crackdown from local authorities.

Officials on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria have targeted sand dune swingers – believed to be many British – in a new initiative launched this week aimed at protecting a nature reserve.

The small island off the north-west coast of Africa, part of the eight-member Canary Islands archipelago and long a favorite of sun-seeking Brits, has handed out record fines to open-air sex tourists since the practice became popular after the pandemic.

And this week, authorities vowed to take extra tough action against visitors who break the law by having sex in the dunes, which could cause damage to the stunning but fragile ecosystem.

A local government official was quoted by Spanish-language media as authorities began formulating a plan to end all outdoor sex: “Since the end of the pandemic, people have gone crazy.”

Authorities have vowed to take extra tough action against visitors who break the law by having sex in the dunes, which could cause damage to the stunning but fragile ecosystem

Research carried out by Professor Patrick Hesp from Flinders University in Australia has found an astonishing almost 300 ‘cruising hotspots’ in the 1000 hectare Maspalomas Dunes Nature Reserve in the tourist town of Playa del Ingles in Maspalomas, southern Gran Canaria.

The dunes – a major tourist attraction – are home to unique plant and animal species, and shrubs help anchor the ever-moving sand and keep it from blowing into the nearby Atlantic Ocean.

But it is warned that tourists eager to undress for sex with strangers among the bushes are not only damaging plant life, but also scaring away birds and lizards and leaving behind piles of beer cans, cigarette butts and used condoms.

At a time of raging bushfires that have engulfed the neighboring island of Tenerife and destroyed thousands of hectares of forestland, smoking in the tinder-dry dunes also poses a fire hazard.

In 2000, measures were taken to control the large numbers of dune goers, with environmental officers patrolling the area and issuing fines of around €150 to anyone caught leaving the cordoned off areas.

But this year, as tourism surges after two years of travel restrictions due to the coronavirus crisis, the number of fines has increased sixfold to 120, compared to just 20 in 2022, local authorities said.

Tourists and foreign residents of Playa del Inglés are managing to outsmart environmental officials by telling each other where and when they see them and what time they leave the area, according to posts from sex groups on Facebook.

Some advise that it is ‘safe’ to go to the dunes for casual sex after 2 or 3 p.m., by which time the patrolling officers are done for the day. Members advise each other which parts of the protected area to visit for sex, as some are casually designated as places for singles, while others are intended for swingers – couples who change partners or have sex together or with single women and men.

Tourists and foreign residents of Playa del Inglés are managing to outsmart environmental officials by telling each other where and when they see them and what time they leave the area, according to posts from sex groups on Facebook.

Some advise that it is ‘safe’ to go to the dunes for casual sex after 2 or 3 p.m., by which time the patrolling officers are done for the day

Playa del Ingles has a large number of swingers’ clubs and some swingers’ resorts, which are also clothing-optional, and is a major destination for British, German and French couples who prefer the libertine lifestyle.

Now authorities plan to crack down on the wandering, philandering tourists who are flouting the law and destroying an area of ​​unspoilt natural beauty. They want, says Raul Garcia Brink, Gran Canaria’s Environment Minister, to introduce new technology such as motion detectors that will alert them to the otherwise clandestine activities of people in the restricted areas.

“The aim is to use new technologies so that we have exact knowledge of the flow of people in the areas,” he said in a statement.

Sex in the dunes had seen a significant uptick so far in 2023, far exceeding data collected in previous years, possibly due to the pandemic, he added.

LED screens would be installed warning people to stay on official paths around the protected area and to go to a nearby nudist beach if they want to undress, he said.

Despite the crackdown, people are already trying to find new ways to get into the dunes for outdoor activities.

“It seems like they are handing out more fines for entering the designated paths in the dunes,” a man wrote in a Facebook group in the dunes on Monday. Another advised: ‘There are plenty of good places you can stay. Usually near the nudist area at Playa del Ingles. The protected areas are on the Meloneras side.”