All it takes is an argument between two women in Varcaturo over a disputed sunbed and immediately there is mockery and controversy. But beyond the rudeness, the battle between these two “vaiasse” also reveals something else. Going to the beach is becoming stressful, between reservations, queues, competition for a decent place and very high bills. In Vico Equense, on the Sorrento peninsula, the Cava Regia Beach club offers 1 sunbed, with a “shared” table and umbrella, for the modest sum of 70 euros a day. On the other side of the fence there are families who take one child to the beach at a time, because three together cannot afford it. In the face of Melonian bonuses for births. The beaches are becoming one of the many emblematic places of inequality in Italy. Between those who can afford them and those who cannot. And yet they would be ours.

Exclusive beach clubs like Twiga are no longer an exception and are invading the shores. Those who want to go to the public beach have to wake up at dawn to hope for a residual patch of sand. Don’t rely on the rocks, even those are now manned by paid sunbeds. However, it’s not just about price, but about understanding how we want to be at the beach, what services we need and above all who should guarantee them. Beach clubs are proliferating throughout Italy, oases of Instagrammable drinks and dishes. North of Naples, the beaches of Varcaturo, Baia Domizia and Ischitella are once again sought after, but the demands of those who manage the beaches are often absurd. They prohibit bringing food from home and require you to buy it from their kitchens: a fresella with tomato sauce for ten euros, at least 20 for a plate of spaghetti with lupins (even if they write ‘clams’ on the menu). Urban trends have also invaded the sand and supplanted the pleasures of the sea: lying on a hammock in the pine forest, reading a book in peace and swimming with a mask.

Protests for free bathing

Things aren’t much better in the North. Giovanni Rana recently opened a beach resort on Lake Garda in the Baia delle Sirene, launching a “gourmet” food and wine project and contemporary design lounges. It’s a shame that where before you could stay for free by bringing your own towel and a sandwich, now you have to pay 30 euros just for the entrance. Access to the park remains free, but you won’t be able to swim without being a customer of the resort. A nice gift from the king of stuffed pasta to the residents of the area, who are rightly protesting. At the beginning of July, activists from the Neapolitan coordination “Mare Libero Bene Comune” also made their voices heard, tired of “asking for charity to take a bath”.

The free beach evicted from Giovanni Rana’s resort: “30 euros to take a dip”

They report the illegal occupation by Neapolitan establishments of portions of beaches that should remain free and are not. As Alessandro Coppola, professor of urban planning at the Polytechnic University of Milan, points out on social media, we have reached a “blatantly illegal extortion of concessions”, where umbrellas and sunbeds are routinely installed even in free beach areas, regardless of the presence of customers. A form of “organized privatization of beaches”, which has been taking place for years now with the tacit consent of municipalities and politicians. And the citizens, who only shout on social media, remain silent.

The Battle Against Bolkenstein

Now that the rules of the European Union risk putting monopolies consolidated over time into crisis, for concessions obtained at bargain prices and now expired, Italian beach resorts have decided to close their umbrellas and “strike”. They fear the arrival of ruthless foreign competition, but a few Italian entrepreneurs with liquidity will be enough to deprive them of this golden goose. “We have made investments”, many concessionaires shout, but no one has forced them to pursue an expensive model on what remains public property: from swimming pools by the sea to massage areas to starred chefs in kitchens full of sand. Not in the name of competition, but of civilization, concessions of a different nature should be imagined, not a competition to see who can lay the most umbrellas by the sea. The alternative already exists.

“The beach establishments are illegal, everyone can go to the beach without paying”

This is demonstrated by the many Italians who, after Covid, have resumed vacationing elsewhere, praising the prices and alternative models of the beach resorts in Greece, Spain, Albania and Croatia. In other parts of Europe, most beaches are public and some services are offered directly by the Municipalities (such as showers, bathrooms and lockers), free parking. The beach resorts present are aiming for a cheaper and more varied offer. Why in Italy are we settling for a few meters of free beach to have a cold shower and the “good and tasty coconut” of a sunbed and umbrella already fixed in the sand? This is a model that also damages families who invest honestly in the beaches, respecting the rules and offering authentically useful services.

Sea without barriers

One of the most virtuous examples can be seen in Ascea, with disabled stations on the public beach. There is also a health worker and a lifeguard who offer all types of assistance. This is an added value, in which the Cilento Municipality has decided to invest. The foresight of the administration has attracted many families with disabled people to those areas, who in Campania have very few possibilities of choice for their holidays. Some beach resorts have understood this and offered similar services inspired by the public model.

To show us that we should focus more on the quality of the sea and less on flute at sunset, the reserves take care of it. I think of the Rabbit Beach in Lampedusa, where everything is “missing”: no sunbeds, no bar, no services, but the environment, chosen by the loggerhead sea turtles to lay their eggs, is preserved. Thanks to this form of protection, the beach has been ranked among the top places in the world rankings for years. In front of that spectacle, you can even give up some superfluous comforts.