As tourists move in, Italians are squeezed out on holiday island of Capri

Famed for its blue seas, breathtaking views and cove-studded coastline, the Mediterranean island of Capri has been a tourist haven since the early years of the Roman empire. Unlike in the imperial heyday, when emperors made it their exclusive playground, Capri now attracts visitors from around the world, clogging its narrow alleys, packing the piazzas and blocking the beaches during summer months.

As many as 16,000 tourists a day pour onto the rocky isle in peak season, outnumbering the 12,900 residents. Most are day trippers, but increasing numbers stay the night as ever more homes are given over to holiday lets, bringing its own problems. "Capri is becoming a dormitory for tourists," said Teodorico Boniello, head of the local consumers' association. "There are more people coming than we can cope with and families can't set down roots because they can't afford to stay."

Capri is a microcosm of many European holiday hotspots. Locals depend on visitors for their livelihoods, but the advent of mass tourism risks turning their picture-perfect beauty spots into blobs of shuffling humanity.

Some Italian towns and islands are starting to push back, albeit gently. Venice last week became the first city in the world to introduce an entrance fee for visitors in peak periods, Florence has banned new holiday lets in the city centre and Cinque Terre park on the Italian Riviera started charging 15 euros for access to a popular coastal footpath to tackle overcrowding. Capri has doubled its visitors' fee from 2.5 euros to 5 euros from April through to Oct, which outsiders pay when they catch a ferry from nearby Naples or Sorrento.

"We are looking to persuade more people to visit during winter," Capri mayor Marino Lembo said. But such a fee looks unlikely to dissuade tourists from travelling to an island which has more than four million tagged photos on Instagram, drawing in an endless flow of visitors. Moreover, locals say it will do nothing to help ease the housing crisis, which forces many essential workers to live on the mainland.
Antonio De Chiara, 22, wakes up daily at 5.20am in his hometown near Naples in order to be sure to catch the 7am ferry, which takes 50 minutes to reach Capri. Around 400 other commuters join him on the ride across the bay. "It would be lovely to live in Capri, but it is very difficult. Even if I could find a place, the rent would take up all my salary," said De Chiara, who recently got a job as a child therapist on the island. Stefano Busiello, 54, teaches maths in a Capri high school but lives in Naples and has commuted back and forth for 20 years. "I have never even tried to find a house here. I could never afford one and things are getting harder." Only 20 per cent of staff in his school actually live on Capri, he said. Roberto Faravelli, who runs a Bed and Breakfast near the port, says people like himself might be willing to rent their properties to workers if the region offered incentives to close the gap on lucrative holiday lets. reuters