Privatisation of beaches: When access to nature is reserved for the rich

By Mariarcangela Augello

This summer, like any other summer since I was a kid, I often spent my days at the beach. Living close to the sea, I have the luck to get to beautiful beaches in a reasonable time. As the place is becoming more and more known, nationally and internationally, increasingly more beach clubs, hotels and resorts are popping up where once there were wild small bays or endless strips of sand. On the sandy beaches, colourful parasols, rows of chairs, restaurants, and kiosks with music are appearing. Meanwhile, the sections of free beach that can be accessed without paying are shrinking year by year, pushing those who cannot, or don’t want to, pay to a concentrated tiny section of the beach. In some bays instead (those harder to reach), access is made completely impossible. I found the website of one of the resorts located at the top of one of the bays; its gallery is full of tourists and influencers relaxing by the swimming pool or enjoying their dinner with a view. On the website they reassure their honourable guests that the beach is exclusively for their use, where they can have an intimate experience in nature. Indeed, fences restrict access to the bay all year round and during the summer months entry is conditional on the payment of the parking and the expensive rental of a parasol (up to fifty euros per day).

Bays and sandy beaches along the coast of Gargano. 

Sources: (photo above: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/711076228641197247/; photo below: https://www.viaggiquasigratis.com/timg/94d8250f-d106-466a-90c7-b64e5fabd77b.png/u/740/400/True )

This is just one of many examples of beach privatisation, a phenomenon spread all over the world and making the beaches inaccessible to most. The term privatisation means the assignation of legal ownership and control of certain goods (beaches in this case) in the hands of one individual or company. For instance, in the Italian case, the public administration allows private citizens or companies to temporarily occupy the beaches for pursuing their economic activities through the issue of concessions.

In Europe, this phenomenon can be traced back to the economic boom when higher life standards allowed the flourishing of mass tourism. But all over the world the number of people crowding the beaches every summer has increased exponentially, and with them flourished several activities to offer services, recreation and leisure. As of 2021, 43% ofItalian beaches were covered by beach clubs according to the 2022 report of Legambiente.

Starting from my own experience, I will apply theories from political ecology that can contribute to shedding light on the issue by highlighting the processes, narratives and inequalities concerning it.

The privatisation of beaches is a clear example of commodification of what Smith calls the “external nature”, i.e. what is considered the opposite of man-made, the environment. Indeed, we can state that the beach has become a true commodity as it can be “completely privatizable, alienable, separable etc.”.

The privatisation of the beaches has several social and ecological consequences. Several are the studies documenting the effects of increasing pressure coming from tourism on coastal and marine ecosystems, for instance, increased erosion or pressure on water resources. The abundance of studies on environmental degradation due to beach-based tourism seem to validate Harvey’s thesis stating that capitalist commodification is “inherently anti-ecological” and the degradation of the environment is a direct cause of the commodification of nature. Yet, the opposite is also true. As neoliberal environmentality teaches us, conservation is the new frontier of capitalism. Far from the most crowded beaches, exclusive locations propose themselves as natural guardians; the protection of coastal ecosystems is thus instrumental to profit as travelling to pristine nature seems to be the new trend among upper-income classes.

A second problem caused by the commodification of nature is related to the social sustainability of privatisation. Despite the neoliberal claims of politicians and business owners about profits from tourism trickling down to all of society, the accumulation of natural capital comes at the expense of public land. What’s more, the increasing number of hotels, beach clubs etc. drives up speculation and more often than not those cities or villages on the coast become too expensive for their inhabitants to live in. In addition, privatisation of the beaches makes large parts of the coast inaccessible or differentially accessible. As nature is treated as a mere economic resource, access to it is prevented to all those whose enjoyment of nature doesn’t produce (measurable) monetary value.

Indeed, one of the most visible effects of privatisation is the fact that it impairs equitable access to the beaches. Physically stopping people from reaching the sea through walls or fences or imposing a price for doing so is in fact excluding people from enjoying nature and its benefits. Those left out are, of course, people from marginalised communities or lower classes, as the study from Langhans and colleagues suggests. In this sense, preventing people from spending time at the beach is a real act of injustice. This is even more true considering the several material, physiological, cultural and mental (and the list could go on) benefits of nature on humans, or the negative consequences of not experiencing it. 

In conclusion, the privatisation of beaches represents a concerning trend with far-reaching social and ecological implications. The consequences extend to the erosion of coastal ecosystems and the rising cost of living in coastal communities, pricing out local residents. This practice of beach privatisation perpetuates inequalities, disproportionately affecting marginalised communities and hindering their access to the restorative benefits of nature. As we delve into this issue through the lens of political ecology, it becomes evident that addressing these processes, narratives, and inequalities is essential for a more equitable and sustainable future.

About this blog post:
This blog was created as part of an academic assignment for the course “Political Ecology and Sustainability” within the International Master’s Programme in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science (LUMES) at the Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS).

Author Bio:
Mariarcangela Augello is master student at the International Master’s Programme in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science (LUMES)