How smoking on a beach in Spain could cost you thousands of pounds

NEXT time you are on holiday in Spain, you may want to leave the cigarettes in your pocket.

A number of beaches ban cigarettes - and you could face huge fines if caught.

A new law was passed in Spain last year that gives local municipalities the power to fine anyone caught smoking on the beach.

Several Spanish tourist hotspots, including Barcelona and the Canary Islands, already had the ban in place, but the nationwide law is the first of its kind in Europe.

It is up to each local municipality in Spain to decide whether to impose the law - so you'll need to check to see whether smoking is banned on the beach you're visiting.

If a municipality does take up the law, anyone caught smoking on the beach can be charged up to £1,700.

It's not the only law you can be caught out with while on a Spanish holiday.

Two popular Spanish destinations have strict rules on where you can wear swimwear - with fines for any rulebreakers.

In Barcelona, people can only wear bikinis on the beach, and holidaymakers caught wearing one in the town centre could face a fine of up to £260.

Similarly, bikinis are limited to the beaches in Majorca, with fines of up to £500 for those caught flouting the rules.

Men walking around without tops on in the two areas could also find themselves being fined.

It's not the only law you could be breaking on holiday in Spain - we've rounded up some of the other ways you could get fined.

There are strict new rules across Ibiza and Majorca, with Brits facing fines up to £250,000 if caught at illegal parties.

And holidaymakers will now be slapped with a six-drink-a-day limit instead of having alcohol on tap when on an all-inclusive break.

Don't forget to check the Covid rules still in place too - Brits heading to Spain still need to be vaccinated.

And face masks are still required on planes, Spain's Ministry of Health announced despite the lifting of them being mandatory by the EU.