Stop bonfires and war on bivouacs: the August bans from Lignano to Forte, from Marche to Sardinia

For lovers of tradition, it is difficult not to break the rules or incur fines on this Ferragosto: no access to beaches during the night, no consumption of alcohol outdoors, no bivouacs and even more so bonfires and free camping on the beaches. In some cases, you will not even be able to swim at midnight or set off fireworks. These are the ordinances signed by the mayors of Italian coastal towns to safeguard the environment, avoid accidents, damage, carpets of waste, especially bottles and cigarette butts, protect the natural beauty, stormed on the night between August 14 and 15 by hordes of vacationers.
It’s a tough life, then, for lovers of bonfires on the beach, an annual occasion to share a night with friends and family, with lots of food, guitars, songs and a high alcohol level. And there is no shortage of the most bizarre ordinances: In Sardinia, in Santa Teresa di Gallura or Sant’Antioco for example, among the many bans there is also that of using stones or rocks taken from the beach to anchor umbrellas. Too many, according to the mayors, injuries to the feet of bathers who trip on stones left on the beach and which constitute an obstacle to the cleaning of the beaches. Fines range from 25 to 500 euros. In Olbia camping, lighting fires and bivouacs are prohibited, in addition to there being restrictions on music: the venues will be able to play it live or reproduce it until 5. In Carloforte on the island of San Pietro fines from 100 to 1000 euros for those who have fun celebrating with firecrackers, mortars and fireworks of various kinds.

From Sardinia to Puglia the mood does not change. In Gallipoli, the Puglia capital of summer fun, the ordinances regulate the noise emissions of the premises and prohibit walking bare-chested or in a bathing suit in the historic centre (excluding the area of ​​the Purità beach), with offenders
who risk a fine of 25 to 150 euros. A third ordinance, anti-bivouac, had been brought forward in the spring.
Bonfires are also banned on the beaches along the 24 km of coast of the Municipality of Fiumicino in Lazio. While in Gaeta, these bans are joined by a ban on midnight swimming.

Beaches prohibited on the night of Ferragosto in Civitanova Marche, but also in many municipalities in Campania, where in addition to the classic ban on lighting fires on the beach, no one can access the free municipal beaches on the nights of Ferragosto. This is the case of Vietri sul Mare, on the Amalfi Coast, which “closes” the free beaches from 13 to 16 August from 7 pm to 5 am after the chaos of the night of San Lorenzo, when hundreds of people flocked to the coast, with many feeling ill and the repeated intervention of 118. The same situation also applies to Palermo, where the bans also extend to the parks, to Taormina, and to Forte dei Marmi, on the free beach of Le Dune, where in the past night parties were organized and where vandalism often occurs.

Among the many bans, however, there are also some mayors who open and even extend the hours of evening entertainment as in the municipality of Lignano Sabbiadoro, to “support the activity of operators, in encouraging the arrival and stay of tourists”. The exemption, in force until dawn on Sunday 18, allows the extension of musical entertainment in public places: bars, ice cream parlors, restaurants, pizzerias, hotel accommodation facilities, will be able to play music, even outside, until half past midnight; other places until half past one. For discos, the exemption concerns opening, possible until 5:30 in the morning. In San Benedetto del Tronto the extension is until 2:30, while in Porto San Giorgio music until 4 in the morning.