Tourists having sex in the dunes is ruining a Spanish beach

Mendizábalo beach, near Barcelona, has a reputation for adult fun. But officials are now warning visitors not to act out

Tourists having sex in the dunes is ruining a Spanish beach

Don’t all book a beach holiday at the same time. Unless you happen to be on holiday with a group of tourists having sex.

That is what police in Spain’s Catalonia region have warned local tourism bosses against after they discovered dozens of couples making love on a beach in the village of Mendizábalo, near Barcelona.

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The beach, named after the taxidermist Fernand Mecadam, was selected as a location for an operation to create a holiday version of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – complete with chocolate bars and popcorn.

Barcelona city officials say the trip to the British ghost town was “totally out of the question”.

According to Spanish media, a local councillor called Maria Carmen Benesca Casas, who decided to organise the exercise at the request of a community group, said an attempt to restore a lost sense of community spirit had “simply led to another form of debauchery”.

A state investigation is to be launched.