The mayor of Stintino, Sardinia has stirred up a sandstorm in his small town, with a proposal to ban towels, blankets, bags and more from the town’s white sand beaches.
Instead, Mayor Antonio Diana says, the town would rent out folding chairs, mats, see-through re-usable bags, etc., all in the name of keeping the white sand from disappearing. His opponents say it’s all part of a scheme to make the town, and its La Pelosa beach into a playground for the rich.
Not so, he says. “We didn’t come up with the idea of banning towels. The entire plan is based on scientific studies that indicate towels as one of the biggest dangers, since when they’re damp they retain a lot of sand. This isn’t some airy-fairy idea.” He’s already replaced the road that led to within a few metres of the beach with a pedestrian and bicycle path.
La Pelosa made two of TripAdvisor’s Top Ten lists for Italy last year, placing on the ten most beautiful and ten most crowded lists.
Photo: AlKan32/Depositphotos
The pedestrian/cycle path might be a good idea – the rest seems completely bonkers! I wonder what kind of ‘scientific’ studies support the notion that damp towels lead to beach erosion.