Whose are the Italian beaches? The point on the issue of beach concessions (which politics does not want to address)

Whose beaches are Italians from? Of the State, or rather of the state property which over the years has given a part in concession to private individuals to open various types of businesses: hotels, restaurants, kiosks and bathing establishments, with permits that renew automatically. How did we get here? Let’s try to explain the problem point by point, with help from different voices. We would have liked to talk to her as well Minister of Tourism, Daniela Santanchè, but his spokesperson told us that at this time he does not want to intervene on this matter. And this is the first problem: governments that do not take sides.

A stalemate for more than 10 years

For 12 years, Europe has been asking for concessions to be regulated and that, being public land, “transparent and non-discriminatory” tenders be made for their assignment; in Italy, meanwhile, 7 governments have taken turns but no one has really tackled the problem, they just have postponed, by extension by extension. But with the last two interventions, by the Council of State and the Court of Justice of the European Union, the possibility of ignoring it seems to have ended.

In March 2023, the Council of State, the second-level body of Italian administrative justice, he has declared the extension until the end of 2024 of the public concessions to bathing establishments decided by the government in the so-called “Milleproroghe” decree is illegitimate. AND a new sentence of the Court of Justice of the European Union a few days ago established that “the concessions for occupying Italian beaches cannot be automatically renewed but must be the subject of an impartial and transparent selection procedure”.

Second Antonio Capacchione, president of the SIB (Italian Bathing Union)the sentence of the Council of State is illegitimate «since the European directive Bolkestein establishes that tenders must be made when and if it is impossible to issue new concessions (ie when there is a shortage of natural resources)». In any case, the permissions must be issued for a limited duration and cannot provide for automatic renewal (as in fact has happened up to now), but each time they have to submit to new tenders, in order to protect free competition in the market.

In practice, the solution that the government should adopt, after the ruling of the European judges, is to proceed with a new mapping of the beaches. «We will do the mapping and the things that need to be done, by the way some Regions are ahead, others further back. But with balance,” declared the Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti.

The environmental issue

The problem is not just that of regulating: the concern for various associations is that they want to create further concessions, in addition to the existing ones. But do we really need new beach companies? «Italy is the European state with the highest percentage of cemented coastline – He says Angelo Bonelli, co-spokesperson of Green Europe. Years ago I coined the term «the waterfront» speaking of the seafront of Rome: just see it to understand what I meant. Pieces of our coastline have been turned into ugliness, reducing visibility and creating environmental damage. we must recover, we need to give more space to the free use of our beaches. Foreign tourists are scandalized by having to pay to see our sea. Many now prefer to go to other countries for their holidays. Why? Because we have lost so much natural beauty.”

He disagrees Antonio Capacchione, of the SIB, who instead argues that it would be useful to increase concessions, a statement also shared by Minister Santanchè during an interview with Sky Tg24. According to Capacchione, foreigners appreciate the quality of the services offered on Italian beaches: «Our management of the beaches is the future of other countries that still have few equipped establishments. They represent our past and there is no going back.” We ask him if he really thinks that other establishments are needed and he has no doubts: «Yes, they are needed. Economists teach it: all people want services. Nature is splendid, but people don’t come to the sea with us just for this, they come above all for the services that we Italians offer: deckchairs, umbrellas, catering, toilets».

The question of low rents

But the problems didn’t end. «The real problem – says Angelo Bonelli – are the rental rates of the Italian seaside concessions: we’re talking about €1.20-1.40 per square metre… per year. To give you an example (which is not accidental, Ed) the concession of Briatore’s Twiga costs €19,000 a year, but that place has a turnover of €6 million. The battle that must be fought is not against the multinationals that are thought to be able to participate in the tenders for the assignment of the tenders: the Italian beaches have already been sold off. The problem is above all environmental.

The union thinks equally about prices of concessions, calling them “unfair”. “The state gets little out of it (according to the data available on the state property website, the revenue from the maritime areas in 2021 for the State was €101 million, with an ascertained tax evasion of 49%, says Angelo Bonelli), but above all the prices are similar for completely different situations, companies and areas. Those who hold these canons against us, however, are those who established them. This situation must not be frozen, the canons must be reformed» says Capacchione.

Because then the state has never increased the prices of the concessions, even if according to the managers of these activities they are unfair? There is no concrete answer to our question from the union, while for Bonelli it is very clear: “The bathing establishments have a strong capacity for interdiction, they are a very organized lobby”.

At this point, though, it really looks like that time is up and there are only a few months left to write the calls for tenders to assign the maritime state property in a transparent manner: to do this, mapping will be needed and above all it will be necessary to establish criteria that hopefully take into account not only the needs of families who have been working in the sector for years, but above all the environment and the Italians who have the right to have free access to the sea. Because the doubt arises: if the cost of the concessions increases, it is easy to think that the cost of admission to the bathing establishments will also increase, risking becoming an out-of-reach asset.