Italy imposes beach rules and selfie stop lights as tourist numbers hit peak levels

Santa Teresa di Gallura in Sardinia is among Italian destinations imposing new rules on its beaches as huge numbers of tourists are expected to descend (Emanuele Perrone / Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

ROME — Dream Roman Holidays may be more like a nightmare for anyone visiting Italy over the next few days.

Such huge numbers are expected to descend on the country’s popular destinations around a major holiday that special measures are being put in place to keep tourists in check.

Italy’s Tourism Ministry says 13 million Italians will be traveling within the country around August 15 as the country jointly celebrates Ferragosto, an ancient holiday first instituted by Roman Empire founder Augustus to give workers a break, and the Catholic Feast of the Assumption of Mary.

Add those to the millions of tourists visiting from outside the country and it’s a recipe for the kind of mayhem, bad behavior and unfortunate accidents which regularly make headlines both in Italy and across the world.

Which is why many places are invoking new rules and technology to try to control the chaos.

From the island of Sardinia to the heel of Italy’s boot in Puglia, access to many popular beaches is now only being granted by booking on an app in an effort to control crowd sizes. Meanwhile, plastics, smoking and in some cases even towels and chairs have been banned from the sand during the coming days, according to Italian media reports.

Night swimming ban

Some beaches on the island of Sardinia, which has seen a record number of tourists this summer, have banned the use of rocks to anchor beach umbrellas. The communities of Santa Teresa di Gallura and Sant’Antioco say anyone failing to comply will be fined 500 euros ($550), according to local media reports.

Still in Sardinia, the mayor of northeastern Olbia has banned late-night swimming, beach camping, bonfires and even the use of chairs and towels overnight to try to curtail all-night revels – although a 5 a.m. music shut-off deadline might seem overly generous to some.

Elsewhere the rules are stricter. In Sassari, northwestern Sardinia, the music must stop at 2 a.m. In the resort enclaves of Platamona, Porto Ferro and Argentiera, the cutoff is 3 a.m., according to an ordinance published by the island’s mayors.

In Rome, Florence, and Venice, temporary stop lights have been installed as a crowd control measure in high pedestrian traffic areas to stop people from taking selfies and blocking the flow.

On the Amalfi Coast, authorities will be regulating the number of vehicles clogging the picturesque roads by alternatively limiting even and odd numbered license plates from entering certain smaller streets during busy times of the day, the local Campania tourist board says.

Trail closures

The island of Capri will be taking a cue from a tourism entrance fee introduced by Venice earlier this year. It’s charging double its usual landing fee for arrivals over the busy holiday weekend.

Some mountain destinations in northern Italy’s Trentino region are using monitors to track the flow of hikers and will be closing trails that get too busy, the regional government says.

Along the Mediterranean riviera coastline of northwestern Liguria, Augusto Sartori, the regional councilor for tourism, announced Wednesday that hotel occupancy was now at 99%, and the region was effectively sold out for Ferragosto.

Even escaping to sea isn’t really an option for those who haven’t booked ahead.

Italy’s cruise ship tourism sector estimates that there will be more than 65,000 passengers in Genoa, with six ships making 12 port calls during the two weeks before and after August 15. In Civitavecchia near Rome, around 59,000 cruise ship passengers are expected during the same period. In Naples, there will be 45,000 and in Bari some 25,000 passengers will disembark to join the mix.

Italy’s tourism minister, Daniele Santache called the issue of overtourism “blasphemy,” but insisted Italy was getting to grips with it as it braced for more major surges in visitor numbers in coming years.

“Overtourism is blasphemy for me, if anything the problem is managing and governing it as we have started to do since we have been in government,” she told the La Nazione newspaper in her Tuscany hometown.

“We are also preparing the ground for future challenges, from Milan-Cortina [2026 Winter Olympics] to the Jubilee [a 2025 religious festival in Rome] which will be an opportunity to make lesser-known realities known, build diversified tourist offers and enhance our wonderful villages.”

Italy, like many places around the world, is facing problems with overtourism during peak season, an issue that can adversely affect both the quality of life for people living in popular destinations and the quality of the vacation experienced by those visiting.

Which is probably not what Emperor Augustus imagined when he designated the midsummer holiday.