Schifani to lido concessionaires in Sicily: 'Away with fences and turnstiles within 10 days'

Lido concessionaires on Sicilian beaches must promptly apply the rules laid down in the circular issued by the Regional Councillor for Land and Environment, Giusi Savarino, on the prohibition of using fences or other rigid structures on the shoreline or turnstiles and other devices that limit or condition access to the free passage areas. Two notes signed by the head of the Sicialian Region's environment department, Calogero Beringheli, reiterate and apply the contents of the circular of 13 August last.

At the root of the recent regional provisions is the heated debate on access to the beach at Mondello (Palermo), with a side dish of controversy triggered by the installation of turnstiles and fences by the Italo Belga company, which manages the lidos. The Italo Belga company installed turnstiles and fences to regulate access to the beach, justifying the decision with the need to manage the large influx of bathers and guarantee safety. However, this decision has aroused strong controversy, with accusations of restricting free access to the beach and violating the right to free use of the shoreline. The Region has therefore issued new regulations prohibiting the use of such devices, stressing the need to guarantee free access to the foreshore and transit areas.

The Region's latest notes reiterating the contents of the councillor's circulars are addressed, the first one to all bathing establishment managers, the other, in particular, to the Italo-Belgian company, owner of the Palermo establishment recently inspected by the Guardia di Finanza and the Coast Guard. "No fence or fence that could hinder or limit bathers' access to the shoreline will be authorised any longer and the existing ones will have to be removed," underlines the note from the offices of the President of the Sicilian Region, Renato Schifani. "Citizens must always be able to access the sea freely and free of charge.

The regional government has put in place several acts to regularise and bring order to the matter of beach concessions, also with the adoption of the Pudm, the plans for the use of the maritime state property, to which the local authorities will have to comply in line with national and European regulations. In one year 93 plans have been drawn up, thanks to the impulse of the Department of the Environment". "These executive notes are consequential to my circular banning turnstiles and fences," adds Councillor Savarino, "and they allow us to clarify and delineate without equivocation what can be done and what, instead, cannot be done in the lidos. This is to protect and respect the environment and the Sicilians' right to have access to the sea without structural limitations'.

According to the note addressed to the Italo-Belgian, the concessionaire must remove, no later than ten days after the councillor's communication, the four installations for controlling pedestrian access to the entrance gates of the 'Valdesi', 'Sirenetta', 'Onde Beach' and 'Stabilimento' lidos, and all unauthorised fences and other rigid structures delimiting the shoreline.