Collection of signatures for the free part of the beach in Maiori, Italy

July 2, 2007 The Citizen's Committee for the Free Beach (Comitato Civico per la Spiaggia Libera) of Maiori, Italy, collected signatures on July 1, 2007 in order to defend the right of its citizens to have a free beach. On Sunday morning alone approximately 250 signatures were collected. One part of the beach has additional services, where people have to pay for sunshades and sun loungers. This side is also less crowded than the part without services. Fees amount to €20 for a sunshade and two sun loungers, with residents of Maiori paying €8. The committee contends that this is prohibitively expensive for working families and those on fixed income. As a town near the beach, most people work in the tourism industry and earn most of their living during the summer season.

Two lido areas are also installed along the shore. The administrators of one of the two lidos try to inhibit people who don't pay for additional services from using the public stairs to access the beach. The Committee protests that they forbid people who want to go swimming to sit on the beach near the water, although it is their legal rights. Italian law states that the shore line is public property.

Additional acts of protest events are planned for Saturday and Sunday.