Tourists have swamped Italian villages by blocking the streets with crowds and cameras – trapping residents in their homes and causing renewed local outcry.
As temperatures rise, visitors have begun to infest the streets of the quaint villages that line the Amalfi Coast – located just south of Naples – knocking peeling shoulders against each other and clattering overfilled rucksacks into postcard stands.
Footage online shows a narrow passageway in Positano filled with a ‘sea of tourists’.
Nearby resident Antonio Attianese, who lives in Nocera Inferiore, said: ‘For the Mayors and administrators of the Amalfi Coast, they like this mess, otherwise they would have already issued orders to civilise this mass tourism.
‘It’s been going on like this for years, and the situation is getting worse every year.’
Not an inch is spared and more holidaymakers are seen filing down into the throng from a set of stairs into the ancient street.
In the town of Amalfi, lines of visitors stretch back from ferries in the harbour.
One type of tourism which commentators have said is particularly harmful is ‘eat and run’ toursim – or ‘mordi e fuggi’ – where day-trippers spend little money and buy cheap souvenirs.
Hundreds of tourists clogged the streets of Positano on the Almalfi Coast in southern Italy in the latest episode of over tourism in the town
Locals have said the situation is getting worse after videos of the packed scenes were posted on social media
Positano is a celebrity favourite on the Amalfi Coast but it is being bogged down by crowding
Former mayor of Positano Salvatore Gagliano slammed the crowding as ‘scenes straight out of the Third World’.
Mr Gagliano, who now owns the five-star Grand Hotel Tritone in the nearby village of Praiano, told The Telegraph: ‘The roads are narrow. When they are blocked there is total confusion.’
He has called for regulation on cruise ships coming to Positano, saying: ‘We can’t handle so many people. The beauty of the Amalfi Coast is being ruined.’
The town has long been a popular hangout for Hollywood stars including Kylie Jenner, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Reese Witherspoon and Mick Jagger.
They are often seen at poplar spots such asHotel Le Sirenuse and the rustic beachside restaurant Da Adolfo.
Overtourism is common across Europe with Venice also seeing problems with huge crowds of visitors.
The issue is also particularly contentious in Barcelona, where locals have staged regular protests over the number of holidaymakers descending on the city in summer months.
They claim that an excess of holiday homes and Airbnbs has driven up rents for locals.
The local authorities stepped in and slapped extra charges on tourists staying overnight in the city after holidaymakers were attacked with water pistols during a demonstration in 2024.
Dubrovnik in Croatia has also become awash with tourists in the last few years since Game of Thrones was filmed there, sending the cost of accommodation and food soaring.
Venice has long been overcrowded and is another favourite of tourists who come to see the glories of Italy, too.
