Sea, sand and sky-high fees: Italians tussle over their right to lie on the beach

Much of Italy’s beachfront is in the hands of family-run concessions who operate exclusive clubs or charge big money for umbrellas and loungers. But a new EU law is rallying activists on both sides

• Photographs by Roberto Salomone

“Most Italians don’t know they have the right to go to the beach for free,” says Manuela Salvi, planting her umbrella in the sand of a private beach club in Gaeta, a small seaside town in central Italy. “They are used to paying to go to the seaside. And if we don’t make our voices heard, the institutions will think we’re fine with it.”

Behind her, another 30 people are preparing to do the same. They are all members of Mare Libero (Free Sea), the association that since 2019 has swarmed beaches with protesters in an effort to reclaim the space. They want to make Italy’s beaches free to access or at least allocated to beach operators through a transparent bidding process.