All-Female Beaches for Muslims Planned at Italian Resort

The Associated Press Published: August 4, 2006

 

ROME An Italian seaside resort plans to create all-female beach sections for Muslim women who wish to shed their head scarves and long robes to enjoy the sun in privacy.

 

The city council of Riccione, a popular resort on the eastern coast, intends to authorize hotels to set up partitions on parts of the shoreline to satisfy requests from a growing number of Muslim tourists.

 

"Our beaches are big enough to answer this need," Loretta Villa, Riccione's councilwoman for urban planning, said Thursday. "We live on tourism and we can't survive if we don't satisfy the requests of our customers, especially the ones who have started coming here only recently."

 

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