Many beach bathing areas in Italy open late
In the midst of the peak season, many beach facilities in Italy opened late on Friday. Along the Adriatic and Mediterranean coasts, owners staged a two-hour strike to protest an EU directive that requires state concessions for the operation of "stabilimenti balneari" to be regularly re-tendered. Operators fear unwanted competition, even from abroad.
The strike call was not universally heeded along Italy's 7,500-kilometer coastline. In Liguria around the northwestern port city of Genoa, 90 percent of beach facilities participated in the "umbrella protest," news agency ANSA reported, citing operators. Further south along the Tuscan coast of Versilia, only one in four beach facilities joined in. Around the Sicilian capital of Palermo, all umbrellas were reportedly open by morning. Elsewhere on the largest Mediterranean island, the situation resembled a "patchwork," ANSA said.
Despite the strike in Versilia, numerous beach bathing areas remained open for visitors to enjoy. Unaffected by the protest, many beach bathing areas in Sicily continued to offer their services to tourists.
