Bathers demand a decree law

A decree law before the start of tourism to crystallise the mapping of beaches carried out by the Government and delivered to the European Commission. This is the request put forward by Assobalneari Italia, a member association of Federturismo Confindustria and La Base Balneare with Donnedamare. This mapping shows that 67% of the coastline is available for the free market and lays the foundations for greater competition, enhancing vast areas with a potential tourist vocation that are still free.

"We are convinced that the mapping carried out by our government is the tool to achieve the economic goals proposed by the Bolkestein Directive. We have requested that the data on the lake and river coasts also be integrated," the presidents of the two associations said in a note. "We underline our disappointment with the European Commission's orientation, which wants to push for a qualitative mapping that would consider the most valuable areas that bathers have built up over generations, handing them over to multinationals and large financial groups. We stress that this qualitative mapping is never mentioned either in the Directive or in the ruling of the Luxembourg Court of Justice, which, instead, speaks of quantitative mapping'. Hence the hope that the mapping carried out by the government will become the basis for creating new beach resorts tomorrow.

The sector has more than 10,000 bathing establishments and employs more than 44,000 people who, in addition to the traditional services offered to customers, clean and care for the stretches under concession in addition to protecting the seascape and the safety of all bathers.