Sorrento has banned bikinis after some locals have been upset by the “macabre procession” of tourists flaunting their stuff.
Sorrento, a popular holiday town in Italy has binned bikinis. Well: sort of. They’ve banned tourists from wandering around town in bikinis and bare-bods. This comes after locals have allegedly been upset by improper behaviour, the Mayor, Massimo Coppola has said, warning strutting your torso or bikini around town could see you slapped with a AU $747 fine.
According to The Times, the mayor of Sorrento said he had recently seen “behaviour that is seen by the majority of people as contrary to decorum and to the decency that characterises civilised cohabitation.” Ouch. He reportedly fears the “discomfort and unease” such clothing causes some people could lead to a negative judgement on the quality of life in Sorrento, impacting its bottom (pun not intended) line when it comes to tourism.
Municipal Police officers will patrol the streets to enforce the ban. The ban also comes after, as reported by The Daily Mail, a local journalist likened seaside towns across Italy to Dante’s Inferno, due to numbers of tourists wearing bikinis and boardshorts in public, calling it a “macabre procession.”
With summer heating up in Europe, Sorrento isn’t alone in cracking down on public decorum. A town in Galicia, Spain recently banned people from peeing in or near the ocean, and Venice recently revealed its plans to charge tourists for entry.
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On the plus side, next time you visit, maybe you’ll be less likely to get burnt…
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