This summer, Italy has experienced a significant decline in attendance at its private beaches. With prices for sun loungers and parasols reaching up to €90 a day, more and more Italians are turning away from private beaches, a trend that has been noticed by owners, with figures showing a decrease in attendance of between 15 and 25% in June and July.
Italy’s beaches have long been an integral part of its cultural fabric, as vividly depicted by Elena Ferrante in her novel My Brilliant Friend, set in 1950s Italy. Beaches, she wrote, were “a place of collective joy, a place where families gathered, where children played, where friendships were made and strengthened”.
Yet the landscape of Italy’s beaches has changed significantly since then. Boasting approximately 7,600 km of coastline, Italy has a limited number of usable beaches, and a significant proportion of these are now under private concession. Data from the 1950s is unavailable, but private beaches were scarce at that time. By 2025, it is estimated that there will be 12,000, double the number from 25 years ago.
Weekends still see crowded beaches and congestion along the various coastal regions. The overcrowding has become so severe in areas such as Sardinia that officials have introduced a system of online booking to control it.
Il circolo vizioso delle concessioni balneari si è spezzato. E la colpa è solo del Governo.
— Più Europa (@Piu_Europa) August 10, 2025
I contribuenti si vedono scaricare addosso i costi della mancanza di concorrenza e non vanno più in spiaggia a farsi spennare per un ombrellone e per un lettino. I balneari sono causa… pic.twitter.com/2O5rtTZpRT
However, weekdays tell a different story, with private beaches experiencing a sharp drop in visitors.
Fabrizio Licorardi, president of Assobalneari Italia, attributes this decline to the rising cost of living. Over the past four years, prices for services on private beaches, including loungers, parasols and food, have increased by 17%, with costs now ranging from €30 in Lazio to €90 in Puglia. Meanwhile, Italian purchasing power has stagnated during the same period. This disparity is placing a serious economic strain on families and making leisure activities unaffordable.
“Even with two salaries, many families struggle to reach the end of the month,” Licorardi told Ansa news agency. “In such circumstances, it’s natural that the first expenses to be cut are those for leisure, entertainment and holidays.”
The shift towards privatisation has been criticised by many, including renowned actor Alessandro Gassmann. He took to Instagram, posting a photo of a beach with empty loungers and wrote:
“I read that the season is not going well. Maybe it’s because the prices are exaggerated and the country’s economic situation is forcing Italians to choose free beaches? Lower the prices and maybe things will get better.”
In response, Maurizio Rustignoli, president of the Italian Beach Resort Federation, argued that reports of dramatic price increases were misleading. He justified the cost by claiming that the services offered to beachgoers have improved.
As beachgoing declines, visitors are turning to higher ground. The Dolomites region has seen a surge in visitors and is now concerned about overtourism. This shift is due to the dual impact of rising prices and temperatures, making the cooler, less crowded mountains a more appealing option.
