French Tourist Fined €1,000 For Bringing Back 2kg of Sand From a Beach in Italy

By Charmaine Shaharin  •  09 Sep 2020 in News

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Going on vacation to a foreign land can be fun but it’s also important to research the laws of the particular country you’re visiting to avoid getting in trouble. Recently, a French tourist was fined €1,000 (RM4,980.25) after attempting to bring back 4 pounds of local sand from Sardinia, an island off the coast of Italy.

According to CNN, the culprit who is unnamed was apprehended at Cagliari Elmas Airport on September 1 after he was found in possession of a bottle containing 4.4 pounds (1.99kg) of sand in his luggage.

“The bottle was confiscated and is in now in our operating room where we hold these confiscated items. At the end of the year we usually have many bottles of sand accumulated,” said a spokesperson for the island’s forest ranges to CNN.

We know that sandy beaches are amazing and sometimes, bringing back a piece of it might feel nice for the memory but for this island, a regional law was placed in 2017 making it illegal to take sand from the beaches of Sardinia, and if caught an individual could end up paying a fine ranging between €500 and €3,000 depending on the quantity and where it was taken.

The spokesman also shared that the incident of stealing sand has been reoccurring more often and just last year they discovered a website that sold the sand as souvenirs.