Italy has introduced booking systems for some of its most popular public beaches in an effort to manage overcrowding and protect the environment. This summer, approximately 20 well-known beaches across the country are limiting daily visitor numbers due to concerns over overtourism, litter, coastal erosion, and damage to local ecosystems.
Pelosa beach in Sardinia, renowned for its white sand and clear, shallow waters, has implemented a cap of 1,500 visitors per day. The beach is fully booked through mid-September, with reservations filling up as early as three days in advance. Similarly, Cala Goloritzé, another Sardinian beach known for its pristine cove accessible only by a 90-minute hike, now limits access to 250 daily visitors. The mayor of Ancona, Daniele Silvetti, who represents a coastal city on Italy’s east coast, emphasized the necessity of visitor caps to preserve these natural sites. “Overtourism makes this inevitable — if you want to save these beaches and avoid closing them to the public you have got to cap the number of visitors,” he said.
Other beaches have long practiced visitor limits, such as the Two Sisters beach near Ancona, which has restricted access to prevent overcrowding by tourist boats. In Liguria, Baia del Silenzio now permits only 450 visitors at a time. Further south on the island of Lampedusa, Spiaggia dei Conigli was fully booked as of last week, reflecting the high demand for Italy’s smaller, scenic shorelines.
The pressure on these beaches is compounded by Italy’s extensive private beach clubs, which have taken control of much of the coastline, reducing the availability of free public beach space. Additionally, climate change and increasing frequency of extreme weather have accelerated coastal erosion, resulting in the loss of approximately 10,000 acres of Italian beachfront over the past five decades.
Authorities hope that reservation systems will not only protect these sites but also encourage visitors to explore less crowded beaches. Francesco Spanedda, a Sardinian planning official, noted that staggered visitation could help distribute tourists more evenly. Environmental advocates, such as Sebastiano Venneri of Legambiente, argued that managing visitor numbers during peak season could promote tourism spread to off-peak periods, easing pressure on these vulnerable locations. “Something has to be done since the number of tourists globally is jumping from one billion in 2000 to an expected two billion in 2030,” he said.
The impact of excessive tourism has prompted some closures. The Pink Beach in Sardinia was shut after visitors removed sand as souvenirs, and regional official Pierpaolo Fois highlighted the disappearance of seals from Bue Marino sea caves as a sign of environmental distress caused by heavy human presence. “We would like the seals to come back,” Fois said, drawing parallels between Italy’s coastal challenges and the overcrowding seen in natural mountain areas.
As Italy adapts to rising visitor numbers, authorities are increasingly turning to controlled access measures to safeguard its coastal treasures for future generations.