The tourists are angry: the strange restriction on the beaches in Italy

While in most of the world sun protection and skin cancer prevention are top priorities, those who want to visit the popular “Punta Molentis” beach this summer, located on the southern coast of the Italian island of Sardinia, will have to make do with very little shade. The local authorities managing the beach have decided to impose an unusual ban on the placing of umbrellas for those aged 10 to 65, while targeting safety concerns in the event of an emergency.

According to the new regulation, only families with children up to the age of 10 or people aged 65 and over will be allowed to bring one umbrella to the beach. For everyone else – it is absolutely forbidden to place umbrellas, gazebos, tents or any other shading system.

This decree is just part of a series of new measures that went into effect on the coast as of June 5 and will continue until the end of October. Among other things, access to the beach will now cost 10 euros (about $11.50), while people with disabilities and their companions will be exempt from this fee.

The local authorities in Italy explain that the decision was made following a fire that broke out last year, when the huge amount of umbrellas on the beach blocked the land evacuation routes – and forced the rescue forces to evacuate dozens of bathers by sea. The bathers are furious: “A beautiful day at the sea and a day in the emergency room because of burns”

The move caused a great uproar and widespread criticism among the bathing public. Reactions on the local authority’s website ranged from outrage to sarcasm. “What a beauty, a lovely day at sea – then 20 hours in the emergency room due to sunburn,” one of the surfers wrote and added: “I think they tried this setup before – and it just burned their brains.” Another surfer wondered if he had to become a parent just to get sun protection.

On the other hand, the municipality of Villasimius clarifies that they have no choice but to settle the matter in order to prevent a recurrence of last year’s horror scenario. During the previous season, a fire broke out in the area and dozens of bathers got into trouble. Due to massive overcrowding and a huge amount of umbrellas that blocked the passage, the rescue forces could not carry out a ground evacuation – and had to rescue the people using boats through the sea.

“It happened mainly because of that fire and the difficulty in evacuating the beach due to the huge amount of umbrellas that were placed there,” explained the spokesperson of the municipality in an interview with the CNN network. The spokesman added that this is an area where the operation of paid private beach clubs is prohibited. As a result, people placed umbrellas very densely and close to each other – which blocked access, created various safety hazards and obscured the view of the sea.

Beach laws in Italy are known for their rigidity. The country is famous for its private and organized beach clubs, where matching colored umbrellas are laid out in perfect, symmetrical rows on the sand. The price for such a pleasure – which includes a chair and umbrella for one day at these clubs – ranges from 100 to 500 euros ($115 to $575), while a season’s subscription can reach thousands of dollars. In these clubs there is a strict crowd restriction, and bathers are not allowed to bring chairs or set up their own tents.

The growing public outrage over the private clubs’ takeover of the public beaches has already led to quite a few problems in the country. For example, in the Ostia region near Rome, several beach clubs were closed this season after it was determined that they were paying too low amounts to the authorities, or that they were operating without the legal right to sell umbrellas and chairs on public sand.

The new decree in Sardinia joins a series of laws that have raised eyebrows in the past in the land of the boot:

• Fines for taking sand: In some Sardinian beaches, a legal ban has been established on taking sand from the beach, where Humphrey prevails and is expected to face huge fines of up to 3,500 dollars.
• Obligation to use straw mats: In many beach communities, bathers are obliged to use straw mats instead of cloth towels, to avoid a situation where grains of sand get caught in the towel fibers and are accidentally taken from the beach.
• Time limit and reservation: To avoid overcrowding, some beaches in Italy impose a time limit of only 90 minutes on those arriving by boat – or require bathers to reserve a spot and pay in advance online.