Fury in Italy as more beautiful beaches ‘stolen from locals’ and privatised | Europe | Travel

Italians are in uproar as more of the country’s world-famous coastline is being swallowed up by private beach clubs, sparking protests from Sicily to Liguria. The tradition of the stabilimento, where visitors pay for sun loungers, umbrellas, showers, and food service, has long been part of Italian summers.

But campaigners say the clubs are now expanding aggressively, leaving fewer and fewer free public stretches of sand. According to figures, the number of beach concessions has risen 12% in recent years, with some regions now almost entirely privatised. In Liguria, 70% of beaches are occupied by clubs, campsites, or resorts.

In parts of Emilia Romagna and Campania, the figure is nearly 70%, with some resorts leaving as little as 3% of the beach freely accessible.

The squeeze has hit ordinary Italians hard, particularly amid the cost of living crisis. With many beach clubs charging high daily fees, families on modest incomes, more than a third of Italians earn less than €15,000 (£12,900) a year, are being priced out of seaside holidays altogether.

“It represents a silent expropriation,” wrote Italian daily La Stampa this week. “They are stealing even the seaside. Free beaches are becoming ever rarer, and those which are not free are ever more expensive.”

Politicians and campaigners are increasingly clashing with operators as well as with those illegally taking over public beaches. In Lavinio, south of Rome, +Europa party leader Matteo Hallissey was shoved to the ground after challenging “Private Beach” signs that had been illegally erected.

In Sicily, authorities ordered turnstiles ripped out at Mondello after clubs blocked access to the shore. And in Basilicata, police confiscated hundreds of illegally placed umbrellas and loungers.

Some mayors are fighting back. Josi Della Ragione, mayor of Bacoli near Naples, has ordered the demolition of unauthorised walls and fences and returned 10,000 square metres of beach to the public.

He insists that at least half of each beach in his town must remain free, despite receiving death threats.

“For too long, beach operators have used the coast for their own private gain,” he said. “But I’m not giving up.”