Overview
- Viral videos from Positano show narrow lanes packed shoulder to shoulder, with residents saying streets were blocked and they stayed inside.
- Former Positano mayor and hotelier Salvatore Gagliano urged limits on cruise passenger landings and called the scenes “straight out of the Third World.”
- Amalfi mayor Daniele Milano said municipalities lack legal power to stop cruise passengers from coming ashore and asked for special regulations.
- Locals fault “mordi e fuggi” day-trippers who visit for a few hours to take photos or buy cheap souvenirs, adding heavy congestion while spending little.
- The strain echoes a Europe-wide overtourism pattern, with 28,000 cruise passengers landing on nearby Ischia within 48 hours as ships deliver crowds faster than small ports can absorb.