The sand is getting scarce, the beaches are shrinking - coastal towns are struggling to preserve them all around the world. The cause of dwindling: the sea, nature. But also industries that consume sand for concrete mixing. And tourists also collect the quartz grains - the finer, the brighter, the more highly prized.
Likewise, collecting mussels and especially beautiful stones becomes a problem. At present, the Greeks on the Sporades island Skiathos, which is known for its beautiful beaches, defend against the pebbles. The round, white, egg-shaped stones on the beach Lalaria make the water shimmer intensely turquoise - and are particularly popular souvenirs.
Although the extremely picturesque Lalaria Beach can only be reached by foot or by boat, there are plenty of visitors there. The cliff of the pebbles, also called "Lalaria", has already reached such proportions that the landscape has changed dramatically over the last ten years. Even locals use the stones to beautify their gardens.
The local authorities and islanders have now launched a campaign. "Take pictures, not pebbles" is on signs on the beach and on posters that have been distributed to boat tour operators and fishermen. Anyone who gets caught, threaten penalties of 400 to 1000 euros.
"Sand steal prohibited"
In particular, German tourists on Sardinia were recently warned by the federal government to refrain from beach picking. "Every year tourists take tons of sand, stones and shells as a souvenir from the island," said the Foreign Office in Berlin via Twitter. This is a pity for the environment and is forbidden by law on the Italian island.
In Italy, the penalties for this are even higher than in Greece: they could amount to a sum between 500 and 3000 euros. "So please leave the sand where it belongs", was the message in the appeal which the German Embassy in Rome also published in Italian.
Popular for example is the white sand on the beach Is Arutas in the west of the island. There are also signs: "Vietato rubare la sabbia" - sand steal prohibited. Tourists are also checked more often there, if they have not put a few grains. On other beaches even towels are forbidden to the protection of the sand, so for example in La Pelosa in the north of the island.