| Holidaymakers are being fined thousands of euros for taking souvenirs of sand from Sardinia’s beaches | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 25 2017, 03:09 PM (122 Views) | |
| Dust Devil | Aug 25 2017, 03:09 PM Post #1 |
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Holidaymakers are being fined thousands of euros for taking souvenirs of sand from Sardinia’s beaches/b]![]() The Mediterranean island is famous for its beautiful quartz sand beaches at Mari Ermi, Is Arutas and Maimoni[ But islanders are fed up with tourists trying to take a piece of the beach home with them. According to officials at Elmas airport in the capital of Cagliari, more than 5 tonnes of sand was seized from passengers during just three summer months in 2015. As a result of the confiscations, the local government put in place a new law that said people caught trying to take sand home could be hit with fines of up to €3,000. The new rules came into force at the beginning of this month and people have already been hit with fines. Four tourists have been fined €1,000 each after they were found carrying Sardinian sand. Local media is also actively shaming tourists who try to plunder their beaches, according to the BBC. The news website Nuova Sardegna has shared footage a couple filling up a bottle with white sand from Arutas beach. Angry islanders are also shaming tourists on a Facebook page called “Sardinia is being robbed and pillaged.” |
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| Dust Devil | Aug 25 2017, 03:14 PM Post #2 |
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Stealing sand as a holiday memento from Sardinia will get you a hefty fine IT IS nice to bring back a memento from a good holiday. But bringing back a piece of this popular Mediterranean island could cost you some serious bucks. Famed for its pristine beaches, holiday-makers love Sardinia to enjoy the sun, surf and sand. However, it appears we might love it a bit too much because the Italian island has a problem with tourists stealing its sand to take back home. ![]() It has become so bad that in three summer months in 2015 alone, as much as five tonnes of sand was seized at Elmas airport, local media reported. The BBC reports that sand has also been seized at the island’s other airports in Alghero and Olbia. To deal with the problem, the island enacted a law. Effective from 1 August 2017, tourists caught trying to “take, keep or sell small quantities without permission” face hefty fines ranging from €500 (about $A750) to €3,000 (about $A4500). The law also applies to seashells and stones found on its beaches. Politicians passed the law following persistent complaints and concerns from locals. A Facebook group, called “Sardinia robbed and plundered”, was even set up. The Facebook page long called for action on the theft of its natural assets, calling it a “crime” and that legal intervention was paramount for the “protection and safeguarding of our natural heritage”. It shares pictures of plastic bottles and bags filled with beach artefacts and shames tourists caught in the act. The theft has been a sore point for locals for a long time. In 1994, the BBC reports, access to the renowned pink beach on the Budelli island to the northeast of Sardinia was banned amid concerns about its future. The island’s forestry corps says Sardinia’s beaches were created over millions of years. “Taking away a little bottle may not seem a big deal. But if all the millions of tourists did it, tonnes and tonnes would disappear every year,” they say, according to the BBC. |
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| Dust Devil | Aug 25 2017, 03:22 PM Post #3 |
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| Arianna | Aug 25 2017, 06:00 PM Post #4 |
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Shame, we don't want these uncivilized people in Sardinia! |
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8:12 PM Jul 11