Italian Nuns Fight to Keep Their Patch of Beach

A battle has broken out in a coastal town in northern Italy between a local order of nuns and the municipal government. For years the nuns have managed a small stretch of beach, renting out sunbeds and parasols to raise money for charity projects.

The mayor of Spotorno, Mattia Fiorini, now wants to put an end to that. The municipality wants to open up the beach to comply with local and European rules and ensure fair competition on Italian beaches.

Fiorini has long tried to overhaul traditional Italian beach management. Many beaches in the southern European country are private territory where residents and tourists must pay for a spot - the so-called lidos. In the Liguria region, of which Spotorno is part, 40 percent of beaches must be public, but the resort lags far behind: only 3.5 percent of its beaches are freely accessible.

The nuns do not own the beach, but have had permission to manage it since the 1970s. The fight over the stretch of coastline, less than 50 metres long, is causing great tension at meetings with the mayor, writes Italian daily Corriere della Sera. "Why does the municipality want to take our beach away?" one sister asked in the town council.

Under the new plan the nuns could no longer rent out beach spots and would have to depend on donations from beachgoers. If that happens, they say, they can no longer keep their school open.

For the mayor the solution is clear: "They will have to take part in the public tender procedure like everyone else." Until then, the nuns can either dig their heels deeper into the sand or go along with the new plans.