Also this year many beach resorts prohibit bringing food and drinks to the beach. “The situation has not improved – denounces to AdnKronos Massimiliano Dona of the National Consumers Union – this is done mainly by luxury resorts but also by traditional ones: either with the classic sign that forbids bringing food and drinks, or within the contractual conditions found on the websites of the beaches and resorts: this is an illegal behavior.” “The concession – explains Dona – only concerns beach services.” Translated: “Regarding beach services – states the president – the concessionaire, the manager of the resort has exclusivity.”
“Naturally, I could not show up with my umbrella or my deck chair, because the manager has exclusivity over that concession item. But it has nothing to do with the serving of food and drinks,” he clarifies. And this applies “even if that beach has a bar or a restaurant.”
The only limit
For this reason, he reiterates, “the ban on bringing food is completely illegitimate”. The only limit, he emphasizes, “concerns decorum and respect for other guests.”
So “no problem for a bottle of water, a sandwich, even lasagna in a container or the famous cooler bag,” while it would be different “to expect to set up some kind of barbecue or have a family lunch among the umbrellas,” because in that case the issue concerns “the respect and enjoyment of other guests.” Regarding entrance checks, Dona recalls that “people’s bags cannot be inspected and much less searched.” This is, he states, “a completely illegal practice,” because “they cannot even tell me to open the bag.” The inspection, in fact, “is a power granted only to the police forces.”
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The advice
The advice, therefore, is “to make it clear that you know your rights”. In most cases, he observes, “there is no need to start a fight at the entrance”: if the manager understands that it is simply “a bottle of water, a sandwich, a snack,” usually “there are no problems.” In the worst cases, he adds, “you can call the Harbor Master’s Office, the local police, write negative reviews and document everything with videos and photos.”
As for food consumption, Dona clarifies that “once I have entered with my food, the manager has every right to say: if you want to consume your sandwich or your drink there are dedicated tables, a dedicated area.” But if “there is no dedicated area, at that point you can eat under the umbrella,” he concludes.
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