Protests grow in fight to reclaim Italy’s beaches from private clubs

More than half country's shoreline managed by private concessions despite being public property

There's an Italian expression, derived from a 1963 song by Piero Focaccia, that neatly encapsulates the deeply ingrained rituals of summertime beachgoers: Stessa spiaggia, stesso mare (Same sea, same beach).

Year in, year out, this often extends to paying a tidy sum to rent the same cabin, same lounger and same umbrella covering the same patch of sand, at the same lido or beach resort, preferably in a prestigious row close to the shoreline, for an entire season.