Brits barred from European tourist hotspot over 'explosive' hygiene warning

27 June 2024 , 07:00

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This popular Italian island was shut down after a 'crisis unit' was activated (Image: Getty Images)

British tourists have been stopped from visiting a hugely popular Italian tourist destination following an 'explosive health and hygiene warning' that has seen boats turned around and ticket sales halted.

Capri Island in Italy, which is extremely popular with tourists, has been hit with water supply issues and large areas of the city have been left without water. Paolo Falco, mayor of the island, has immediately put a halt all tourism and banned anyone from arriving on the island amid fears essential services could be compromised and overwhelm the island. The mayor said: "The health and hygiene situation is explosive, we have taken our countermeasures and activated the crisis unit and issued a restrictive order."

The issues came about due to a failure in the mainland's water supply which the island of Capri relied on. Although water was still available in most areas of the island, including the main tourist hotspots, some isolated areas of the upper municipality of Anacapri were left completely dry. The water network relies solely on local reservoirs, which, without a supply of water from the mainland, risk running out.

The island of Capri, a popular tourist destination, was shut down on Saturday after water supply issues (LightRocket via Getty Images)

On the mayor's order ticket sales on the mainland were immediately stopped, which has led to huge lines of passengers at the ports of the southern city of Naples, where most ferries headed for Capri depart. Tourists who had already made it onto boats and hydrofoils were also disappointed when maritime authorities halted all vessels, forcing them to return to the mainland and disembark passengers, the Daily Express reports.

However, the mayor's ban was later revoked when he explained that the technical issues which had caused the disruption to water supplies had been resolved. Capri is situated in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Italy's Sorrentine Peninsula in the Bay of Naples and is renowned for its dramatic cliffs, luxurious resorts, and vibrant gardens, attracting a huge number of day trippers each season. The 1,300 locals who live on the island were not affected by the ban and were allowed to collect up to 25 litres of drinking water a household from a supply tanker.

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