France introduces €150 fines for going topless in holiday hotspots this summer

As extreme summer temperatures become more frequent, people are more likely to strip off layers of clothing in an effort to keep cool, but it’s worth being aware that in many French destinations, people who go out in public without a top on could find themselves slapped with a fine.

Some European beach resorts have been associated with topless sunbathing for many years but authorities across the country, from the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, up to the English Channel, are increasingly cracking down on men who walk about town naked from the waist up.

Narbonne in the southwest is one such municipality, where the council has brought in a ban on toplessness, explaining in an announcement that the measure is intended to “preserve public tranquillity, respect for the living environment and the attractiveness of the city centre during the summer season.”

45°C (113°F) is possible Monday/Tuesday in parts of western France. That’s hotter than the current forecast for Phoenix, Arizona.

France is enduring one of the country’s worst heatwaves ever, due to its unprecedented duration, intensity, and extreme temperature anomalies. pic.twitter.com/5jl9thFAKZ

— Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) June 22, 2026

Anyone flouting the dress code risks a penalty of up to €150, with police responsible for this enforcement. The town’s mayor told the BBC that around 15 people have already fallen foul of the rules.

Nearby Nice introduced a similar policy years ago in 1999, limiting toplessness to the beach with fines of €35. Deauville and La Grande-Motte are following suit, with Deauville increasing its financial penalties for indecent dress almost 10 times, from €17 to €150.

In 2025, Les Sables d’Olonne on the Vendée departement’s Atlantic coast, long renowned as an elegant bathing resort, introduced €150 fines and appealed to visitors to “behave themselves” and put some clothes on, with a poster campaign declaring: “200 years of Sablon elegance should not end in Y-fronts on our streets.”

The trend reflects increasing divergences between those who believe in French tolerance and “laissez-faire” and those who want to impose more “traditional values.” Recent years have seen fierce debate in France about women who wear full-body coverings such as “burqinis” on the beach, resulting in surreal situations where French police have ordered women to undress on the shoreline.

The new rules and fines being introduced also go hand-in-hand with increasing anti-tourism sentiment and a drive by authorities to help tourists better “fit in” with locals, by obeying social norms. It is no coincidence that the rules are being seen in France, the world’s most visited country, and Spain – a close runner up – where anti-tourism protests have been rife.

Interestingly, of 102 million international visitors in France last year, 28% of men think toplessness is okay, a Perspectus Global survey found, so some conflict about the resort rules could be coming. Yet however people feel about the measures, unless they wish to lose some of their summer holiday budget on a toplessness fine, popping on a T-shirt is probably a good idea (and will help prevent sunburn in those extreme temperatures too!).