Malaga bar causes a stir by banning customers wearing pyjamas

2017-02-06 09:00:00

"No admittance in pyjamas or dressing gowns. Sorry for the inconvenience." This is the essence of a sign which has been displayed outside Los Monaguillos bar on Calle Mármoles in Malaga for the last two weeks.

"Hygiene is the main reason," staff say, adding that it is quite normal to see customers go in wearing nightclothes. They say that while a ban on swimwear and entering shirtless in the summer was widely accepted, they felt this latest measure was necessary given the extent that local residents were starting to wear pyjamas outdoors. "Some local businesses are taking much more serious measures, even reporting them," said a member of staff.

Juan Sánchez, a regular at the bar, said: "Going out in public wearing pyjamas doesn't seem right to me. It's very vulgar; it doesn't create a nice feeling around the area."

 
So how common is it? "About one in twenty come to buy bread in a dressing gown," said a baker in the area, while an employee in the local branch of Día said: "Some come in jeans, some come in pyjamas - it's normal."

Other bars, including El Paponazo and Cafetería Guadalmedina have also reported a significant percentage of people wearing house clothes around the neighbourhood.

The tourist perspective

Many visitors to the bar come from the nearby Málaga Centro hotel and tourists have asked staff if there's a hospital close-by or if the clothes the people are wearing are the same as those they sleep in.

"This doesn't create a good image. This doesn't happen in all of Malaga - it's just very widespread in this part of town."

Walking down Calle Mármoles, we encountered a number of people wearing the controversial attire. Several refused to speak to us, but one woman, wearing slippers and a dressing gown with a bear pattern across it, said: "I've been running around doing errands and just flung this on. It's comfortable, quick to put on and, to be honest, I don't care what anyone else thinks of it."

Ever since our Spanish sister paper SUR broke the story on Monday, the bar has become the centre of a media storm. "It's been non-stop these last few days," said Darío Díaz as he cleared a table. But has business been affected? "It's been more or less the same. Some people have changed their clothes while others have actually stopped coming altogether."source surinenglish