Italy: Capri island lifts ban on tourist arrivals after ordering so due to water crisis

Rome: The Italian island of Capri has reopened its doors to tourists after issues with water supply reported during the weekend were resolved.

On Saturday morning, the Mayor of Capri, Paolo Falco, ordered that tourists be banned until the island addresses the shortage of water. The mayor pointed out that water is vital during the tourist season, so for the time being, the island would not be accepting tourists, Schengen.News reports.

The health and hygiene situation is explosive, we have taken our countermeasures and activated the crisis unit and issued a restrictive order.

As a result, thousands of tourists had to remain on the island as the emerging situation of the water crisis was caused by a failure in the mainland’s water system. The Mayor said that the emergency would only worsen by the thousands of tourists that were to arrive in Capri during the weekend.

Shortly after the Mayor issued the ban order for new tourists, boat crossings were ordered to stop bringing new people to the island.

This situation caused traffic and long lines of passengers at the ticket office in the south of Naples, where most ferries to Capri depart.

Capri is one of the most popular tourist places in Italy, with thousands of tourists arriving on the island every day. In April of 2024, right at the season opening, up to 16,000 tourists arrived in Capri, exceeding the population of the island, which nearly reached 13,000.

Capri is becoming a dormitory for tourists. There are more people coming than we can cope with and families can’t set down roots because they can’t afford to stay.

Considering that there are more people coming to the island than residents, it is evident that mass tourism has captured this beautiful attraction spot in Italy.

In efforts to reduce the impact of tourism, Capri has doubled its tourist fees from €2.5 to €5, which applies to tourists when they catch a ferry from Naples or Sorrento. The measure is applicable from April through to October.

We are looking to persuade more people to visit during winter.

By introducing off-season travel, the island is trying to distribute the number of tourists all throughout the year. However, that is unlikely to happen as the island is one of the favourite places in Italy for tourists, with Instagram users tagging views from the islands in more than four million posts.