Activists fight to reclaim Italian beaches from private concessions

Look over there. That's where the private beaches start. Nearly 3 kilometres of beach concessions. So if you haven't paid an entrance fee, you can't access the beach, put a towel down on the sand or even go for a swim. For years now, Roberto Sketchy has been campaigning against this Italian anomaly. Half of the country's beaches have been given over to private concessions without a call for tender. The situation has come to a head in Brussels. According to the Balkenstein directive, all Italian beach concessions should have expired by the 1st of January of this year and should be offered up for transparent public tender. The same families have had these concessions automatically renewed for decades, which goes against EU rules. The EU has established that these concessions are in fact illegitimate. Illegitimate concessions and very few poorly maintained public beaches. An issue that these campaigners are discussing on a beach in central Italy to raise awareness amongst the holiday makers. We support free access to the sea because the most beautiful beaches have been handed over to private concessions. It's unfair because not everyone can pay €50 a day for a parasol and two sun lounges. Only small areas of beach are free for everyone and they are often cramped, difficult to access, dirty, with no maintenance service and with no lifeguards for safety, even though the law states that there should be guaranteed. For the people running these concessions, business is booming. According to the Court of Audit, they paid to the Italian state on average less than €4000 per year and per portion of beach for a gross income that is at least 50 times higher. Last year I had a turnover of nearly €300,000. We have 19 employees and we're looking to hire. I've been managing this concession since 1998. In the meantime, as the government delays implementing the EU rules, the status quo remains in place for some 15,000 beach concessions on the Italian coastline.