Visitors Taking Naked Photographs At Machu Picchu Escorted Out

As streaking gained popularity in 2014, Peru stepped up security at its UNESCO World Heritage monument.

Last week, authorities kicked out two European tourists who had been shooting naked images at Machu Picchu.

According to CNN, park security spotted the two foreigners—one French and the other Swiss—and brought them to the officials' attention. A photograph was being taken of one of them while he posed nude at the House of the Guardian.

According to a tweet from the Policia Nacional del Peru (PNP), the visitors were handed over to the authorities, who then deleted their photos and imprisoned them for public obscenity. Officials have once again urged tourists to follow the rules and advice of security guards when visiting Machu Picchu. The PNP tweeted, "The wonder of the world should be respected!"

Tourists taking naked pictures at Machu Picchu is an ongoing issue. The European tourists had been warned before for taking nude pictures at the ancient landmark, which is on the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites. Peru tightened security at Machu Picchu in 2014 in response to a rise in the popularity of streaking at the historic monument.

In 2013, authorities in Peru imprisoned two visitors from Australia and New Zealand for snapping revealing images of themselves that quickly went popular online in Peru. There were also videos uploaded on YouTube showing tourists streaking while security officers chased them. In 2021, two foreigners from Great Britain and France were arrested for similar offences, as they faced charges of immoral behaviour.

The Inca fortress, perched high in the Andes, has been around since the 15th century. Every year, it welcomes about 1.5 million visitors. However, in order to preserve the monument, the Peruvian government has restricted the number of visitors to about 4,000 each day.

In addition, there is a set of regulations in place to protect this world treasure from being damaged, such as a prohibition on the use of tripods, selfie sticks, and backpacks weighing more than 5 kilograms.

 

Source: euronews.com