A fine for a tourist for "beach sand"

A fine of 1,000 euros was imposed on a Frenchman in Sardinia after his luggage was seized with a quantity of sand that he had pulled from the sea during his visit to the Italian island, according to the local authorities.

And forest guards at Elmas Airport in charge of protecting the coasts seized two kilograms of beach sand inside a plastic package in the bag of the French tourist, whose identity was not revealed, according to the authorities' statement.

A statement pointed out that "these behaviors not only cause environmental damage, but also undermine efforts to preserve the coast for sustainable tourism development in Sardinia," according to what local media reported.

In August 2019, a French couple were stopped in Sardinia with 40 kilograms of sand in their car while they were about to board a ship bound for the southern port city of Toulon.

For years, Sardinia has banned tourists from withdrawing sand from the beaches, which is often in the form of grains of rice, and imposes severe financial fines on violators.

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