A French tourist was arrested while boarding a ferry from Sardinia to Nice. The police found in the luggage of a tourist 41 kilograms of stones and pebbles stolen from a local beach.
As law enforcement officers found out, the Frenchman took stones from Lampianu beach in the city of Sassari. He planned to carry cargo in the trunk of a car and bought a ferry ticket from Porto Torres to Nice, but ran into a check at the port. The police seized the stones and took them back to the beach. The tourist was arrested, and now he faces a fine of up to 3,000 euros.
The export of gravel, stones, sand, or shells from the beaches of Sardinia is prohibited by law. Punishment – a fine of 500 to 3000 euros or imprisonment. This law has been in force in Sardinia since 2017, as many people do not just take the unique Sardinian sand as a souvenir, but resell it.
The removal of sand and stones from the beach can lead to environmental problems and more rapid erosion of the coastline. “The few tourists who visit Sardinia carry 40 kg of sand off the beaches every day. In the long term, this activity could lead to a reduction in the number of beaches that have so far attracted tourists to the island,” explained local ecologist Pierluigi Cocco.
Periodically, the Sardinian police detain tourists whose luggage contains sand or stones from local beaches. So, in 2019, 14 plastic bottles with 40 kg of sand were confiscated from tourists who, according to local police, wanted to fill their aquarium with Sardinian sand.
Despite all the laws and penalties, the demand for Sardinian sand on the online market is still very high.