bring the sandwich from home

A mother hid some sandwiches at the bottom of her backpack so her children could eat on the beach without having to go to the establishment’s restaurant. When it was time for food, he asked them to move away towards the shore so as not to attract the attention of the staff. The episode has ended up becoming the symbol of a debate that has been growing for years in Italy: how far the private beach business can go.

It’s not who occupies it, but what you can do. we have been counting. Private concessions have been part of the Italian coastal landscape for decades. In regions such as Liguria or Emilia-Romagna they come to occupy about 70% of the coastlineoffering hammocks, umbrellas, bars, restaurants and all kinds of services.

The problem is that, as the price of enjoying a day at the beach has increased, many users feel that the cost does not end when they rent their space on the sand. The last front of this tension no longer revolves around access to the sea, but rather something much more everyday: whether a family can take out a sandwich prepared at home.

A symbol of the cost of going to the beach. The controversy broke out on a beach in Puglia, where a woman was reprimanded after introduce homemade food for her and her children. There is no national rule that prohibits bringing food to these establishments, but some concessionaires establish your own rules to protect the activity of its bars and restaurants.

For many clients, however, the situation is hard to accept. After paying hundreds of euros for a full season or increasingly higher daily rates for an umbrella and two sunbeds, they consider it excessive to be forced to also assume the expense of the restaurant.

Two business models in the same arena. The managers of the private beaches maintain that maintaining these facilities requires heavy investments and remember that they must take care of staff, cleaning, taxes and waste management during a very short tourist season.

Furthermore, they assure that the problem is not so much the sandwiches as those who turn the beach into an improvised dining room with complete menus and then abandon the trash. Faced with this vision, many families respond that bringing food from home does not respond to a question of comfort, but of economyespecially at a time marked by the increasing cost of living.

The real problem. The controversy has also put the spotlight on the state of many beaches Italian public Many users acknowledge that they would prefer to use them more frequently, but report that they lack basic services or are poorly maintained.

This situation pushes many people towards private concessionswhere they find comfort and services, although in exchange they must assume costs that become higher every summer. The result is a growing feeling that access to the sea is still public, but enjoying it is beginning to seem like a luxury.

Prohibited solutions. Not all establishments have chosen to tighten the rules. Some have started offer simple menus and affordable that customers can consume under their own umbrella, trying to reduce conflict without forcing them to give up catering.

It is a formula that seeks to balance the interests of the business with the economic reality of many vacationers and that demonstrates that there are alternatives to the permanent confrontation between clients and dealers.

The great battle. Be that as it may, the sandwich episode has transcended because it summarizes a discussion much broader on the tourism model and the use of public space. The question is no longer just how much it costs to rent a hammock, but where does the right end of the dealer to manage his business and where the freedom of those who have already paid to occupy a small piece of sand begins.

In that sense, the humble hidden snack in a backpack has ended up becoming the unexpected protagonist of a debate about the future of Italian beaches.

Image | °cute°!°

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