Visitors to the picturesque beaches of the Italian island of Sardinia must now count not only on mandatory reservations, but also on a widespread ban on the use of parasols, writes the BBC.
Authorities responsible for the Punta Molente beach on the southeast coast of Sardinia have indicated that last summer’s forest fires devastated the beach, dunes and also the parking lot, which is why they had to introduce restrictions on the number of visitors, allowing up to 150 people to visit the beach at a time. Officials in the nearby town of Villasimius said it was important to reduce human impact on the environment to preserve the beaches for future generations.
Sardinian beaches have long attracted large crowds of visitors, and Punta Molente beach will not be the only one to be restricted this summer.
Villasimius Mayor Gianluca Dessi has signed an official decree introducing a ten-euro entrance fee for visitors arriving by car and a five-euro fee for those arriving by boat. The new regulations stipulate that
no more than 70 cars per day will be allowed on the beach until the 31st of October, and reservations will be mandatory.
The use of parasols is also prohibited, with the only exceptions being families with children under ten or seniors over 65. The official statement said that the Punta Molente ecosystem is both the most valuable and fragile in the municipality.
At the end of July last year, visitors to Punta Molente beach were forced to abandon it in boats when flames reached the water line and black smoke billowed everywhere. Dozens of cars burned in the beach parking lot.
Not everyone is happy with the rules, though. One island resident wondered on the city’s website whether the only way to visit the beach would soon be to hire children or seniors, and said the only way to help the beach would be to close it completely for several years.
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