The 8 most bizarre rules at holiday parks

In Stintino in Sardinia it has been forbidden to put the towel on the beach since 2019 because previously too much adhering sand was carried. The mayor of the municipality explains: “We lost so much sand because of the beach towels.” Anyone who spreads his towel risks a fine of up to 100 euros.

Even with small beach souvenirs such as shells or stones, the Sardinian authorities have no mercy, up to 3000 euros waved buses at the airport.

In addition, visitor limits have been introduced on several Sardinian beaches this summer to protect the beaches. For example, in Baunei, in the east of the island, where you have to register via an app 72 hours in advance to reserve a seat, travelnews.ch writes. With all these measures, Sardinia tries to preserve nature and cope with the tourist crowds.

The popular coastal town in Croatia, namely Split, faces an influx of tourists every year that puts a heavy burden on the old town. Now this has increased so much that the city has issued a number of new rules and bans for this season, as reported by the online portal nordbayern.de.

Alcohol may only be consumed in catering establishments, wild camping in public facilities is prohibited and those who puke in public can expect a fine of up to 150 euros.

Another bizarre ban was introduced in Split this year. There it is forbidden to stroll through the old town in a bikini or swimming trunks. This was introduced in response to complaints from residents who felt disturbed by the large number of visitors.

Sand castles are just as much a part of beach holidays as sun and sea. But these are banned in many places. For example, in Sylt, where excavation work loosened the coast and washed away more and more sand, Reisereporter.de explains.

Sandcastle fun is also banned in Eraclea, Italy, where the lifeguards were hampered by the castles, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Amsterdam has been fighting excessive party tourism for years. Mountains of waste, noise pollution and excessive drug use prompted the municipality to launch an online campaign to discourage partygoers from coming to Amsterdam in the first place.

In addition, there have long been bans with fines of 140 euros for public alcohol consumption and wild urination, zdf.de reports. From this year, smoking weed, for which Amsterdam is so famous, is no longer allowed in the city center.

Some cities struggle so much with mass tourism that they have to resort to extreme measures. In Italy’s Portofino, taking selfies has been banned in certain places since the start of the season because it caused traffic congestion in the past.

According to the Tagesanzeiger, non-compliance can lead to a fine of up to 275 euros. Even in the stronghold of tourism, Venice, visitors are encouraged not to stop unnecessarily lest they block the narrow streets and bridges.

In the popular Spanish resort of Torrox in the province of Malaga, reserving a spot on the beach has been prohibited since 2014. According to the online magazine costadelsol, this is how the municipality responds to the lack of space on the busy beaches of the small town.

So if you reserve your spot with a towel or sun lounger and stay away for several hours, you can expect a fine of up to 30 euros.

According to the Australian magazine Forbes, it is even more expensive in Calpe, also on Spain’s Mediterranean coast: if you put down your umbrellas and chairs there before 9:30 a.m., you risk a fine of up to 250 euros.

The picturesque villages of the Cinque Terre attract thousands of tourists to the Italian Riviera every year. While the sea invites you to swim, the coastal region invites you to walk – but not all tourists are well equipped. Accidents happen again and again because people go out in flip flops and flip flops. Those affected would then often have to be evacuated from the surrounding national park by helicopter, according to various media park director Patrizio Scarpellini in 2019.

Without further ado, he therefore introduced a new regulation: Anyone caught wearing slippers or slippers on the hiking trails must pay a fine of between 50 and 2,500 euros.