Tourists in Italy could face fines of up to £6,000 if they buy sunglasses, bags and sarongs from beach vendors
Beach sellers are a common sight in Italy and can often be found walking up and down the beach selling cheap sunglasses, bags and jewellery
TEMPTED to buy a pair of knockoff sunglasses from a beach seller on holiday? You should probably think twice.
Tourists in Italy could now be fined up to £6,000 if they buy fake designer goods from beach salespeople.
The beach sellers, who mainly come from West Africa and Bangladesh, are seen up and down Italy’s beaches each summer with a range of eye-catching items.
But according to Italy’s new hard right interior minister Matteo Salvini is going to crack down on the practice, telling a business association: “We need to stop the invasion (of vendors) on the beaches, and also stop the sale of counterfeit goods.”
It's estimated that the counterfeit goods trade in Italy is worth £19billion a year.
The vendors themselves could also face fines of between £2,200 and £12,000 if they are caught selling their wares on the beach.
The rules don't just cover sales of goods either, tourists could also face fines if they have a massage or henna tattoo on the beach.
The politician is reportedly preparing a “safe beaches” announcement about cracking down on the vendors.
Tourism is a huge industry in Italy, but many residents there feel that their country is becoming saturated in the summer months.
Last month, the mayor of Capri revealed that the popular holiday island needs to be "reorganised" to accommodate the swarms of tourists there in the summer months.
Mayor Gianni De Martino, revealed to : “We're going to try out an experiment similar to the one in Venice.
“I understand the difficulties faced by my Venetian counterpart. We can't stop tourists disembarking but we can do something.”
Last year he revealed he was worried that Capri would “explode” due to the throngs of visitors it gets in the summer.