Lots of countries have law about minimum coverage in public, or in places that are in view of someone who is in public. If they didn’t, there would be no way to prosecute indecent exposure. The consequence is that to declare a beach clothing optional also requires a law at the same jurisdiction level as the indecent exposure law. In most states in Australia, local councils can declare a beach clothing optional, but there has to be a law at state level giving councils the right to do so. And there’s some sort of legal wrinkle I don’t understand for beaches in National Parks, where national legislation complicates stuff.
Edited to add:
Ah. I think I missed your point. The quote seems to suggest that prior to legalisation, it was wasn’t even legal to have a naturist club on private property in Portugal. I don’t know the legal situation in Portugal, but if true, that would indeed be surprising.
