Breaking news! The picturesque town of Sorrento has banned bikini’s on the streets. The mayor of Sorrento; Massimo Copolla introduced the ban. Now people wearing a two-piece bathing suit while on a stroll can be fined up to 500 euros. The mayor calls it “widespread indecorous behaviour”. So what is happening?
Sorrento is a popular holiday town in Italy, visited by thousands of tourists every year. Apparently, the tourists choice of town wear has upset the local inhabitants, and it hasn’t been the first time. According to The Times, the mayor called it “behaviour that is seen by the majority of people as contrary to decorum and to the decency that characterises civilised cohabitation.” As of now, Municipal police officers will patrol the streets to enforce the ban, and it is likely this ban will continue- to spread accross the smaller Italian towns on the coastline.
Other coastal hotspots in Italy have recently started with similar bans. The Praia a Mare in Calabria does not allow you to walk around barefoot, and wearing inappropriate clothing is forbidden (which calls for a subjective evaluation). Rapallo in Liguria even has street signs reminding visitors to abide by the dress codes.
It is not completely new to Europe that these bans have come into place. Restaurants on the popular holiday island of Mallorca are known for banning tourists who wear clothes that are associated with drunken tourism. This once again calls for some subjective evaluation.
11 venues in the party resort of Playa de Palma have created dresscodes that prohibit swimwear, trunks and strapless “book tube”tops.
