Fed-up Italian farmers set up mountain turnstiles to charge access to Instagram hot spots

RNZ News

3 days ago

By
Barbie Latza Nadeau
, CNN
Italian landowners have installed turnstiles in the Dolomites as frustration grows with queues of tourists they say come in search of photos for Instagram.
Photo:
Carlo Zanella / CNN Newsource
If Carlo Zanella, president of the Alto Adige Alpine Club, had his way, travel influencers would be banned from the Dolomites.
He blames them for the latest Italian social media trend, which has lured hundreds of thousands of tourists to the mountain range in northern Italy, with many traipsing across private land to get that perfect shot.
In response to the influx, frustrated local farmers have set up turnstiles, where tourists must pay 5 euros (NZ$9.70) to access several "Instagrammable" spots, including the Seceda and Drei Zinnen (Three Peaks) mountain ranges.
Photos showing lines of up to 4000 people a day, have been popping up on social media in recent weeks. But rather than deter people from coming, the images have acted as a magnet.
"The media's been talking about the turnstiles, everyone's been talking about it," said Zanella. "And people go where everyone else goes. We're sheep."
Italian law mandates free access to natural parks, such as the Alps and Dolomites, but the landowners who set up the turnstiles say they have yet to receive any official pushback from authorities.
Georg Rabanser, a former Italian national team snowboarder who owns land in a meadow on Seceda, told the Ladin-language magazine La Usc he and others started charging tourists to cross their land to make a point.
"So many people come through here every day, everyone goes through our properties and leaves trash," he said. "Ours was a cry for help. We expected a call from the provincial authorities. But nothing. We only read statements in the newspapers. Gossip; nothing concrete. We haven't even received warning letters. So we're moving forward."
Zanella, who said he avoids his once beloved alpine hiking trails during the summer months, supports the landowners charging admission to cross their property. He thinks the government should pay for the upkeep of the entrance system, likening the overtourism to Venice, where visitors have to pay a 10-euro entrance fee on busy weekends.
"I would increase the price from 5 to 100 euros," he told CNN. "And close the accounts of travel influencers."
Beyond the public nuisance of overcrowding, he feared the naiveté of social media tourists puts them at risk.
"Once upon a time, those who came up to the mountains were prepared, dressed for the mountains, and came for hiking. Especially the Germans, who had maps and knew where to go. The Italians, on the other hand, set off, go, and take a cable car," he said in a statement shared with CNN. "Now I've seen people go up to Seceda with sun umbrellas and flip-flops and get stuck because the cable car closed and they hadn't checked the lift schedules (...) This isn't what the mountains should be," he said.
The local tourism body has petitioned authorities to close the turnstiles, insisting the issue is being overblown. The Santa Cristina Tourist Board, which oversees part of the area where the turnstiles have popped up, said they have hired four park rangers to ensure that tourists stay on the trails, don't cross the meadows and don't fly drones.
"Things have improved significantly," Lukas Demetz, president of the Santa Cristina Tourist Board, said in a statement shared with CNN. "And even the litter problem isn't as serious as people say. It's significantly reduced."
Still, across the Aosta Valley, parking lots have popped up to stop people from driving up the mountainside, and hikers are required to take the paid shuttle bus to Monte Rosa. At the Pian del Re peat bog in Piedmont, only 150 cars are allowed to park in the closest parking area to discourage visitors. Some regions, including Lake Braies, now charge 40 euros a car to access the area to try to deter people from coming in to take pictures. Arno Kompatscher, the governor of South Tyrol province, which includes part of the Dolomites range, has called on the national government to set restrictions to protect the fragile alpine ecosystems and dissuade local residents from renting out their chalets to tourists.
The mountain residents aren't the only Italians clamping down on badly behaved visitors. Across the country, new ordinances have been a hallmark of the 2025 summer.
Wearing just a swimsuit or going bare-chested in some Italian towns will attract more than a few looks. Semi-nudity could also land you a 500-euro fine - in the name of decorum. The Tuscan island of Elba and the Ligurian city of Diano Marina have both introduced summer ordinances that prohibit shirtless and swimsuit-only strutting - for both men and women - anywhere but the beach.
And if your attire is deemed vulgar or "indecent" in the eyes of any beholder, authorities can levy smaller fines starting at 25 euros.
In Livorno, walking barefoot is prohibited. On Sardinian beaches, you'll get in trouble for digging holes for umbrellas, smoking, or lying on the sand without a mat. At the ever popular La Pelosa beach area, only 1500 bathers are allowed at a time to prohibit overcrowding.
In San Felice Circeo, a party town south of Rome where having an aperitivo on the beach is a way of life, take-away alcohol is banned both in town and on the beach. Loud music can only be blared during certain hours across much of the country, and in the southern region of Puglia, boaters risk a fine if they play music within 500 meters of the coast.
-CNN