‘These people are savages’: How Portofino became besieged by ‘half naked’ tourists ...Middle East

It is known as the pearl of the Italian Riviera, where tourists come from across the world to admire Portofino’s pastel-coloured houses, cobbled streets and sparkling blue bay packed with fishing boats.

But residents of the luxury destination, where the likes of Louis Vuitton and Loewe line the paths, say they are fed up with loud, half-naked holidaymakers flooding into the harbour every summer and behaving badly.

The Ligurian village in northern Italy where barely 360 residents normally live has introduced temporary laws targeting badly behaved tourists for the summer, when 100,000 visitors can descend.

Tourists are now banned from walking around in swimwear, bare-chested or without shoes, and from drinking alcohol in the street. Visitors are asked to refrain from sitting or lying down in the streets, squares, and on walls, as well as from having picnics.

The authorities renew these rules on an annual basis as part of efforts to preserve the exclusive coastal spot’s high-end appeal and historic charm, and protect the “peace and quiet and relaxation of residents and tourists”. The rules end on 30 September.

Tourists breaking them face fines from €25 (£22) to €500 (£432), with municipal police agents confirming that it is their duty to make visitors respect such “decorum” rules.

However, local residents say they have little faith that the fines will change tourists’ behaviour, and complain about a lack of enforcement.

“These laws introduced to preserve the unique tourist vocation of our village have been around since at least 50 years, but they have seldom been enforced,” according to Silvia Prato, a member of Portofino’s merchants’ lobby and owner of the Gennaker leather store in the village, told The i Paper.

“Local authorities and the police turn a blind eye to people walking around in swimsuits, lying on the ground, throwing trash on the ground. Portofino has turned into an open-air zoo and I can no longer tolerate it.”

Ms Prato’s boutique is located right on Portofino’s main piazza, lined with outdoor cafés and shops.

Ms Prato, who was born and bred in Portofino, says that every day she sees “rude” tourists lying on public benches, suntanning on pavements and walking around in tight transparent swimwear that reveals intimate body parts.

“The other day this man just strolled by in a sort of G-string, he was practically naked,” she said. “Surprisingly” most of them are Italian, she added.

They also come in groups and stage impromptu music concerts, disrupting the village’s tranquillity, she said.

“It is disgusting. Things have gotten worse in the past few years. Portofino is a jewel and it was once untouched by bad overtourism. It’s meant to be an elite place,” said Ms Prato.

Portofino is Italy’s richest municipality, with an annual average income per person of €95,000 (£82,118). The rich flock here during the summer to sunbathe on yachts and dine at high-end seafront restaurants.

Giancarlo Modafferi, co-owner of Bar Miuccia and head of Portofino traders’ association, told The i Paper that the chic village, made famous worldwide in the 1700s by British travellers, was on the precipice of decline and needed to be saved from overtourism.

Mr Modafferi said he was regularly forced to tell bare-chested clients sitting at his bar’s outdoor tables to put their shirts back on or to leave.

“They’re sweaty and the chair they’re sitting on becomes all gluey and sticky. I can’t have other clients sit there so must I clean or remove it at once. It’s awful, these people are savages, they have no sense of what good behaviour and social respect are,” he said.

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“Many visitors don’t care about ruining the beauty of our village. They leave food wrappers and bottles on the ground. Portofino is loved worldwide for being a chic place with people of good manners, but now decency is gone”, he adds.

The worst days are when huge cruise ships arrive in Portofino’s bay and “vomit” thousands of people into the village. In his view, there should be a cap on the number of cruise ship day-trippers.

Under the temporary rules this summer, begging and almsgiving are also banned, although Ms Prato adds that, like the other rules, these are rarely enforced.

However, not everyone in Portofino thinks the bans are a good idea.

A waitress at another central restaurant, who asked not to be named, said musicians asking for alms who came to play the violin at dinner tables “don’t really do anything wrong” and should not be fined, nor the clients who gave them tips.

“They’re just playing songs, and some are even nice. I see nothing bad about it”, she said.

The town hall and the mayor’s office declined to comment.

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