In Italy that of seaside concessions It is a very thorny topic, subject to controversy by environmental and category associations and at the center of an infringement procedure by theEuropean Union who tried to regulate the law in Europe in Europe. In Italy, the government tries to protect historical managers. But how does the Italian system really work and what could change in the coming years? Just a few days ago the Minister of Infrastructure Matteo Salvini announced the signature of a decree To reduce i Maritime state -owned canons of the bathing establishments up to 50%. Starting from 2027, the End of automatic renewalsreplaced byObligation for the municipalities of calling public tenders by 30 June of that year. The new concessions thus assigned will have a variable duration Between 5 and 20 years And, at the end, there will be a compensation for the outgoing manager.
What the seaside concessions are
Bathing concessions are authorizations, issued by public bodies such as Municipalities, provinces or regionsto use maritime state -owned areas for purposes recreational-tourist, including commercial activities. The areas of the maritime state property include beaches, but also ports, coasts and other coastal areas. Specifically, therefore, the concessions for bathing establishments authorize the use of the beach to manage bathing establishments and commercial activities. While the Free beaches I am a Use and public access without payment of a fee, responding to rules established by the Municipality or by the in charge, the beaches in concession are managed by a privateThey offer paid services such as catering, showers, umbrella rental, sunbeds and see an exclusive use of the stretch of beach by the dealer. In some municipalities there are the so -called Free equipped beachesthat is, an intermediate category, which provides for theFree access to the beachwith the possibility of taking advantage of some services but without the obligation to pay a fee.
How to get a seaside concession
There procedure To obtain a seaside concession it consists in presenting a request to the competent territorial body (generally the municipality or province). According to European legislation, the concession entry procedure should be carried out through public noticetherefore via the race, after which one is made both environmental and technical and administrative evaluation, The term of which the concession is then issued. Generally the duration concessions should be from 6 to 10 years of use, but in Italy it comes automatically extended also consecutively. The checks are carried out by the Coast Guard and Port Authority (as regards the safety and the rules relating to the maritime area), from Common (to check that the environmental standards and the compliance with the beach plan are respected) and from theState Property Agency (for checks on the canon and state -owned constraints).
Some data on bathing concessions in Italy
In Italy, Maritime concessions for tourist use amount to approx 12.166 for bathing establishments e 1838 For sports clubs, campsites and tourist complexes. Second Legambiente, 42.8% of the Italian sandy coast is occupied by seaside concessionsor about 1433 km out of a total of 3346 km of sandy coast. This figure disputes that of Ministry, which declared that only 33% of the Italian coasts was the subject of concessions; This is because, according to Legambiente, the Ministry’s investigation would take into consideration the entire Italian coast, including also sections of coast not accessible, as a rocky coast or with infrastructures already present. In Italy in some regions (such as Liguria, Emilia-Romagna and Campania) the coast is already occupied by concessions for 70%, a figure that also highlights the strong imbalances between regions within the country.
As for the agoaverage annual tittate one bathing establishmentit can be said that it normally goes from 100,000 to 300,000 € for medium -sized structures, overcoming the € 500,000 per year, in luxury tourist areas. The minimum measure of the canon For maritime state concessions, starting from 1 January 2024, it has been set to 3,225.50 €.
Critical and controversial aspects on concessions
In Italy there are numerous controversies and criticisms by citizens and institutions regarding the bathing concessions: primarily comes automatic renewal criticized and the extensions that are granted to the bathing establishments on concessions. The Council of State with three sentences considered illegitimate the extensions to concessions, because in contrast with the principle of free competition. Italy is in fact under European infringement procedure as it does not apply the Bolkestein Directive 2006/123/EC according to which the government should adapt to the EU rules: states must ban public and impartial tender procedures To assign the seaside concessions and prohibit automatic renewals. Italy since 2010 has extended existing bathing concessions, not applying the legislation, receiving an infringement measure from the European Commission in November 2023. All the concessions currently in place are extended Until 30 September 2027.
Another reason for criticism are the canons too lowestablished by law a fixed ratewith a minimum of about 3 € per square meter and a Minimum annual fee of about 3,000 €. According to the Court of Auditorsthe state derives Just over 100 million a year over 16,000 concessionsa sum considered disproportionate to the turnover of the establishments.
What could change in this regard
Until now, the Italian government has shown resistance to the Bolkestein Directive, postponing its reception, also to protect the operators of the sector and the family businesses that manage the bathing establishments. The trade associations they fear economic repercussions and ask for greater guarantees for managers historians of the establishments. Some of these have moved concrete proposals, for example the Sib (Italian Balneari union – Confcommercio) who asked for greater protection of family businesses, also proposing a reform to enhance the investments of the current dealers, and the Fiba (Federation of Balneari – Confesercenti) who asked the Italian government clear rules and criteria that reward operators who have invested over time on the structures.
Particular attention is paid to themes such as the protection of the landscape and thefree access to the coast. Legambiente, for years, has been denounced the privatization of the Italian beaches, publishing reports on the coast occupied by the establishments and asking More environmental protection And transparency in public tenders.
Seaside concessions in the rest of Europe
Greece, Croatia and France Follow the Bolkestein directive with public tenders to entrust the management of the bathing establishments; in Portugal The races are indicated by taking into consideration the historian of those who already manage the bathing establishments, with a concession that can go up to a duration of 75 years (and for this point also Portugal has received the infringement procedure by the European Union); As for the Spain, The beaches are public state property and belong to the state, just like in Italy, but the bathing establishments and commercial activities can only operate through Temporary authorizationscalled “Conceiones”, which are issued after a public tender procedure. Concessions have a determined time and with the Law on the coasts (Ley de Costas) of 1988, reformed in 2013, the Spanish government establishes that The use and public access to the beaches is a priority, limiting the privatization of the coast.
Further changes starting from 2027
The seaside concessions system will be modified starting from 2027: Municipalities will have to start calls for Race by 30 June 2027. In addition to Stop to automatic renewals concessions and the obligation to start public tendersthe new concessions will have a duration between 5 and 20 yearswith a compensation scheduled for the outgoing dealer. In addition, new criteria for the assignment have been established, according to theaccessibility of the establishments, to environmental respect and to the quality of the services offered. These criteria also reward the protection of local traditions and the ability to guarantee Continuity of employment to the workers of the previous manager.
