El Torn, to the south of the Costa Daurada, is a natural paradise in the form of an almost virgin beach, between the sea, the forest and the mountains. His fame is international. A place worth going to at least once, whether it’s a beach or not. It is enough to spend a day on its enormous sandbank to verify that El Torn is still, as it was at the end of the seventies, a naturist beach. Absolutely majority presence of people who practice nudism, naturally, peacefully and calmly. an oasis.
That El Torn is a naturist beach is perceived from minute zero, already in the parking area, next to the old train tracks, in disuse. Many of the bathers leave the car already naked and start the way towards the precious sand with the beach utensils in hand. Refrigerator, umbrella and chair, yes; swimsuit or bikini, no.
The pilgrimage is made up daily by many residents of the area, Reus and the entire Baix Camp region, but also holidaymakers from Lleida, Zaragoza and other parts of Spain. His fame crossed borders a long time ago: French, Dutch -especially in July-, Flemish or, more sporadically, German and Italian.
With our feet already on the sand, after a pleasant walk with views, second evidence. What happened in the parking lot translates by the sea. In this natural enclave, bathing suits are and continue to be a minority. The breadth and length of the beach, 1.6 kilometres, in a protected area of ??natural interest, contribute to the feeling of freedom. Everyone acts respectfully, without questioning looks. Not a trace of the textile invasion.
First dip and a bit of diving, with the goggles and snorkel as the only luggage. Between towels and umbrellas a man appears, a veteran, friendly and calm, who distributes a sheet and talks with a couple. He and she, in bathing suits; who delivers what looks like a flyer, naked.
He does not sell them anything that can be bought: “Look around you, don’t you feel different? Let’s all be equal, free yourself and get naked. The normal thing on this beach is to go without clothes ”, she reads. In a respectful and almost pedagogical way, the naturist explains to the textiles that El Torn is a beach where nudism has always been practiced.
The Vandellòs i l’Hospitalet de l’Infant City Council itself has contributed to teaching and has marked the Torn beach as naturist. In 2021, the new beach ordinance included a naturism article explaining that the Torn is for “recommended nudist use.”
“We are not fundamentalists or exclusive, we are in good spirits, it is only a recommendation. Nudism creates nudism”, highlights Manel Mondéjar, 68, from Reus. Just listening to one makes you want to undress.
He is the president of the Associació d’Amics de la Platja Naturista del Torn, the nudist organization with more partners, almost 700, from all over the Spanish coast. Few are better than him to understand and disseminate, on the ground, naturist philosophy.
Manel, like the vast majority of Torn users, is against generating tension, although he regrets the “insults and lack of respect” they have suffered on other beaches with a naturist tradition. “Majorities always crush.”
On this beach, now almost blessed redoubt, they are also celebrating their anniversary. The Associació d’Amics de la Platja Naturista del Torn celebrates its 35th anniversary and has taken the opportunity to continue teaching. “In the Torn we have the highest naturist rate in the State, 96%,” they presume. Several factors, maintains its faithful users, explain why the Torn remains oblivious to the massive arrival of swimsuits. The fact that access is not easy or fast, in a society accustomed to arriving almost by car on the sand, has been key. “It is a natural selection, the beach itself defends itself”, they say, from a gathering on the sand. The fact that it is an almost virgin beach also encourages, they say, to get rid of prejudices and artifice. “And luckily it has not become overcrowded,” they add. Almost a miracle in the age of Instagram.
It has also played in their favor that the nearest reference campsite, El Templo del Sol, is naturist. So is the beach bar.
The entity has not stopped since 1988 to disseminate. They do two naturist excursions every week so that “people see that you can practice nudism and nothing happens.” They have also created their own signage at a dozen access points to the beach with messages like this: “It’s better without a swimsuit. Test it! Respect nudism and nudists.”
Almost daily, one or two people from the naturist entity hand out brochures to the few textiles that arrive. “Hello, since you have come to spend the day, you have the best opportunity to try nudism, you will see that it is a very pleasant sensation”, they proclaim. “We have chipped a lot of stone, year after year. Inform and inform… We will continue to recommend the nudist use of the Torn”.