Visiting a Swing Club
Swing clubs are like any other bars you have visited but in addition to a social area where couples can get to know each other, drink a glass or dance, they also have private areas, usually composed of common rooms, corridors, labyrinths or rooms for exchange of couples. Access to these areas is free and everyone can participate or observe as long as they comply with the Club's codes of conduct.
Like any other type of bar or space, it is important to realize that each club has its rules and its environment. When in doubt, always remember that the greater the restrictions on entry, the greater (and more restrictive) will be the Club's conduct and admission policies. There are clubs that only allow entry by invitation, others that only accept the entrance of couples, and others where the entry of single people is also allowed, if not in all the days that they are open, at least on specific days.
Like everywhere else, common sense is fundamental. Contrary to what one might think, attending a Swing Club does not imply that couples have to change partners. Many couples visit a Club because they feel comfortable in that environment to drink and talk to the core of friends they met in the lifestyle. Others go for voyeurism, to dance or to spice their sexual appetite in an environment where disinhibitions are left at the door.
If you are planning to exchange couples, there are some rules that are familiar to the entire community and should always be kept in mind.
The first and foremost rule in swing is respect for others. The main objective of all is to have fun and for this reason the word "no" is law, that is, "no means no" and as such should be respected without any need for explanation. The approaches should be subtle, no one is forced to participate in something that they do not feel comfortable with.
Another common rule of thumb for the swinger community is that women are the ones who address what can and cannot be done between all as soon as a decision is made to enter a private space. This conversation is preferably done when all members of the couples are present. In Clubs where singles are allowed, the single should wait to be approached by the couple and not the other way around.
Before visiting a Swing Club it is always important to consult their rules or ask the couple who invited you what type of club you are going to visit, what the conduct policy is or if there is a theme party that involves a specific dress code.
Tourism for swingers
There are exclusive destinations for swingers all over the world. One of the most sought after locations is the lush coastal town of Cap d'Agde in France. An enclosed space with private beaches, marina, hotels, restaurants and more than 20 clubs with daily parties that gather up to 6000 couples per night.
There are also several resorts, the most famous located in South America, which are exclusive for couples, with daily entertainment and themed parties every night, allowing the realization of various fantasies and satisfying almost every conceivable fetish.
Offshore, about 10 cruises per year are held for more than 1,000 couples per trip. Also in these cases, access is restricted, parties are permanent and the environment is relaxed, liberal and sensual.
The History of Swing in Portugal
In Portugal, swing is still a forbidden subject for many, but already an assumed lifestyle for others.
Although it is a recurring practice that has dissipated with the introduction of Catholic education in the communities, the swing lifestyle arouses again the curiosity of a dozen couples in Portugal in mid-2000 in a small club in Santos-o-Velho, where everything was still in the shadows of the night, in rented houses in remote places.
With a sudden change in the lifestyle of couples, increasingly centered on a relationship with focus on experience, freedom and confidence, the community of swingers grows rapidly, as well as spaces with sensual and glamorous environments and decorations, a little all over the country.
In 2006 opens in Lisbon the one that would become the most famous Swing club in Portugal, inspired by the best that was done in the World. The XClube widened horizons to the more liberal couples and quickly became one of Europe’s swing clubs with the largest number of couples, and a benchmark amongst the swingers in Portugal.
What began as a taboo, with occasional meetings wrapped in secrecy, quickly grew and, throughout the country, new spaces prepared to receive more than a hundred couples by weekend opened, with discos, lounge rooms, private areas, glory holes, community rooms, labyrinths, cinemas and various themed spaces.
With the growth of the swinger community in Portugal, there was an increasing need for an initial contact between couples. A place where it could be possible to meet people who shared the same interests and fantasies, making thus the Internet the gateway to the swinger community.
In 2006, the first sites dedicated to the theme began to appear (www.casaispt.com) and in 2009, the need for an exclusive social network for couples opens doors to the project www.swpt.org which currently has more than 160,000 registrations, having become the largest and best virtual swinger community in the Iberian Peninsula.