Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has hit back at opposition accusations that the country’s beaches are empty because citizens can no longer afford summer holidays, calling the claims “shameful” and “unpatriotic,” The Times UK reports.
The row began when Elly Schlein, leader of the centre-left Democratic Party, pointed to reports of a 30 per cent drop in customers renting umbrellas and sunbeds at Italian beach clubs. Schlein described “empty beaches” as a postcard from Meloni’s government, arguing that millions were skipping holidays due to economic hardship after three years of her leadership.
State television images of smiling holidaymakers, she added, were propaganda from Meloni-appointed managers designed to hide the reality of a struggling economy.
Meloni, reportedly holidaying in Greece, countered with government figures showing the number of Italians taking holidays in July was actually up by 1.8 per cent compared to last year. She accused Schlein of deliberately damaging Italy’s tourism image for political gain, stating: “Who truly loves our nation should not discredit it before the world.”
The clash drew sharp reactions from across the political spectrum. Democratic Party senator Antonio Misiani likened Meloni’s rhetoric to that of a North Korean politician, while former prime minister Matteo Renzi mocked her for delivering lectures on patriotism from a foreign beach.
Support for Schlein came from an unlikely source — Massimo Casanova, a former League party MEP and beach club owner, who said dwindling beach attendance was the result of Italy’s middle class “running out of cash.”
Official figures show tourism in Rome is thriving, with 644,000 visitors expected over the mid-August weekend, up 5.5 per cent from last year. However, hotel owners caution that visitors are booking shorter stays, and some of the increase may be due to previously unregistered B&Bs now reporting guest numbers.
Experts note that economic pressures are not the only factor behind empty beach clubs. Rising prices — including a scandal in Mondello, Sicily, where a club installed turnstiles on a public beach — have deterred some visitors. Others are avoiding August’s extreme heat, taking trips in cooler months, or opting for free stretches of sand rather than the regimented rows of umbrellas that have long been a fixture of Italian summer culture.
As the Sardinian daily La Nuova Sardegna observed: “The sea will always be there but habits are starting to change, just as the water does when the wind switches direction.”
