Italian nuns fight Spotorno council plan to tender 80-year beach concession

Municipal tender for Bagni Gino Garrone

A regulatory conflict in the Ligurian coastal resort of Spotorno has placed a Catholic religious order in direct opposition to local municipal authorities over the management of a 50-metre stretch of beach. The nuns of the Suore di Carità di Santa Maria order have operated the Bagni Gino Garrone establishment since 1946. For eight decades, the order operated much like thousands of other private beach concessions along the Italian coastline by renting out deckchairs and parasols, but held an exemption from standard commercial regulations because their earnings supported social programs. The municipal administration under Mayor Mattia Fiorini has designated the site for public auction, initiating steps to align local beach management with regional free-beach quotas and European competition law.

Charitable funding and public debate

Earnings from Bagni Gino Garrone directly fund an infant school that the religious order operates in Spotorno, along with an annual summer beach camp for children. The sisters maintain that the municipal plan threatens their social operations by converting the plot into a free equipped beach (spiaggia attrezzata libera). Under this model, public access to the sand is entirely free of charge, and visitors only pay small optional fees to rent beach equipment. The nuns argue this system is substantially less lucrative and will leave their charitable work without funding. During a public debate on the coast usage plan, Sister Miranda, an 80-year-old nun from the order, confronted the mayor over the municipal decision.

It's ours. Why does the municipality want to take away our beach? If they do, we won't even be able to keep the school running.

Local council policy and reclassification

Mayor Fiorini stated that the regional legal framework that once permitted beach concessions for social and charitable missions is no longer in effect. Spotorno council opted to reclassify seven private beach concessions into free equipped beaches to expand public access while avoiding a total conversion to unserviced public sand, which would have removed all beach installations. Fiorini rejected claims that the policy singled out the religious congregation, noting that local authorities are legally required to open concessions to market competition and meet regional public beach minimums.

If they want to continue managing the concession, they must participate in the tender, like everyone else.

European directive and national coastal reforms

The conflict in Spotorno serves as an early implementation test for coastal municipalities across Italy ahead of national regulatory deadlines. The European Union passed the Bolkestein directive in 2006 to require public tenders and fair competition across service concessions, but successive Italian administrations resisted applying the rules to beach resorts for two decades. Following legal pressure from European institutions and domestic court rulings, the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni agreed to a national deadline of 30 June 2027 to place all private coastal concessions out to competitive tender. Spotorno plans to publish its tender notices in autumn 2026, with final concession awards scheduled for early 2027.