Could you be fined for peeing at the beach water?

Is peeing at beach water ethical or unethical?

A week ago, a beautiful American mom of two teenage kids clad in a bikini swimsuit posted a question on Quora, what discourages the public from using a beach toilet for peeing most often? On her question, she got many replies from readers.

Among the responses that she received, many replied that the lack of beach toilets especially at public beaches prevents them. Others said that albeit there are available beach toilets but they are so far away that encourage them to pee in seawater.

The most interesting reply that she received is from a Spanish man. He replied by sharing a website link from Showbizz daily, saying that albeit it seems unethical to pee at seawater or beach sand but those who pollute will not be able to urinate at the Spanish beach located in his home country Spain.

He further explained that the mayor of the Spanish town of Vigo, Abel Caballero from Galician (northern Spanish) has sought a ban on urinating on both water and sand of beach falling under his municipality.

Yo, Vigo’s mayor, Abel Caballero, is droppin’ fines for pissin’ in the beach water or sand! You gonna cough up that cash for takin’ a leak?https://t.co/vbsbZRZoLv

— Adnan Qureshi (@contactadnan31) September 10, 2025

The violators could be fined €750 euros ($763 dollars or £637 pounds) for breaking this new rule. The mayor wants to see the clean beach. Abel Caballero’s decision to keep the Vigo beach clean from human waste has put him under international headlines from around the world.

On the eve of every Christmas, he is renowned for spending a fortune to light up Christmas lights that can also be seen from space. The news of banning urinating on Vigo has put him in limelight, particularly on 'Le Figaro' in France and 'The Times' in Britain. In the context of enforcing this new rule, the municipal ordinance was also approved in May 2021.

But the question arises of how this new rule can be implemented. There are usually crowds on beaches, especially on weekends. The theory of tell-tale liquid indicates that when someone urinates on the sand of the beach, a chemical reaction originates, and consequently a red circle forms on that spot. But that stain instantly washed away by layers of seawater. So it seems difficult to trace and catch the violator.

To come up with this problem, the municipal authorities will be placing incognito municipal agents who will stay among the bathers on the beach and will try to figure out in case of any gusts of warmer or hot water.  

From the environmental perspective, the mayor’s laughable proposal looks good but its implementation seems an uphill task. He even is willing to hire SpongeBob along with comrades for controlling leaks of urination under seawater. 

So readers what do you about the Spanish mayor’s decision? Should it be enforced in Vigo beach or not? Any feedback?