Overview

• Mayor Layachi Allaoua rescinded the shorts ban within two days, saying the measure aimed to preserve peace rather than yield to religious pressure.
• The decree had labeled Bermuda shorts indecent, surprising vacationers and businesses that depend on Chetaïbi’s seasonal beach trade.
• Observers linked the episode to unresolved tensions from Algeria’s 1991–2002 civil war over political Islam’s influence on public life.
• Similar actions in neighboring Jijel include roping off beach areas for mass prayers, drawing criticism that they threaten open-access tourism.
• Former Ministry of Tourism official Said Boukhlifa warned that conservative groups are exploiting economic strains to expand their influence at tourism’s expense.