A brief ban on men’s swimwear in Chetaïbi, a scenic beach town on Algeria’s Mediterranean coast, has reignited national debates over religious conservatism, identity, and freedom in public spaces. Earlier this month, Mayor Layachi Allaoua issued a decree barring male beachgoers from walking around town in Bermuda shorts, calling them “indecent” compared to the longer, looser attire favored by more conservative visitors.
“These summer outfits disturb the population, they go against our society’s moral values and sense of decency,” the mayor wrote, claiming the town’s residents “can no longer tolerate seeing foreigners wandering the streets in indecent clothing.”
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The order was met with immediate pushback from officials in the nearby regional capital of Annaba, who called on the mayor to reverse the decision. Within two days, Allaoua rescinded the ban and later insisted in a Facebook post that his move was not the result of Islamist pressure, but an attempt to maintain “peace and tranquility.”
Chetaïbi, home to about 8,000 people, relies heavily on domestic tourism each summer. Though known for its hospitality, the town now finds itself at the center of a broader national conversation about the influence of religious conservatism. In the neighboring city of Jijel, sections of beach have been sectioned off for mass prayers, and some vehicles parked near the shore have been vandalized with threatening messages. One note read: “Go and sin elsewhere.”
Sociologist Redouane Boudjemaâ commented, “Even though Islamists lost the war in the 1990s, they never gave up on their invasive and intrusive ideological project, which has gained ground in society.”