As of: March 17, 2024, 6:12 a.m
By: Victoria Krumbeck
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Press
Split
Beach operators in Italy have to connect their showers to the water network.
This causes a lot of problems, but it benefits the tourists.
Rome – When the large number of tourists come to Italy every year, the beaches are usually overcrowded.
Beach operators then have a particularly busy time.
This year they are looking forward to the holiday season with concern.
On the one hand, there are a lack of lifeguards on the beaches, and on the other hand, a new regulation from Rome is putting the operators under pressure.
This requires that tourists be able to rinse themselves with drinking water in the showers.
Italy: New shower regulations cause displeasure among beach operators
For the operators of the many paid beaches in Italy, time is running out, as
Corriere
quotes the Italian portal
Il Messaggero
.
Most of the showers located on the banks are not connected to the water network, as the
Berliner Morgenpost
writes.
The operators obtain the water from wells, which is regularly tested in the laboratory.
Many showers in swimming pools also do not have a connection to the water network.
A woman washes her feet in a shower on the beach in Valencia.
According to an Italian regulation, the water will soon be drinking water.
© Rober Solsona/dpa
Operators, such as those in Tuscany, were asked to change the water supply by summer.
“Almost all bathing establishments here use water from wells.
Connecting to the aqueducts requires complex infrastructure work and high investments,” the
Berliner Morgenpost
quotes Carlo Ricci, spokesman for the Confartigianato Balneari association.
He represents operators of bathing establishments in the southern part of Tuscany.
Italy's beach operators have to guarantee drinking water - concerns about water shortages
In addition, there is great concern about excessive water consumption in summer.
This is also accompanied by concerns about a potential supply shortage, as the trade association Confesercenti, in which many Italian lido operators are organized, explains.
Small communities in particular, where the population grows four times in summer compared to winter, could be particularly affected by a water shortage.
But even in communities with many bathing establishments, there is a risk that drinking water will be used for the beaches and that hotels and holiday apartments will have to worry.
Even without the new regulation, drinking water was already rationed in many places in Italy in the heat year of 2022.
The operators complain that the beaches would have to be dug up in order to supply the showers with drinking water and lay water pipes.
They want to take action against the new regulation and have asked the regional parliament in Tuscany to repeal the new regulation.
“The concern is great: it is said that anyone who does not comply with the regulations will face high fines and even have the bathing establishment closed,” said Ricci.
The association cannot allow that.
(vk)