Capri outlaws noise pollution from builders, gardeners

The island of Capri, exquisitely beautiful but a bit on the prim side, was never going to rival Ibiza, Mykonos or Ayia Napa, in the hard-partying stakes. And now, 2,000 or so years after the Emperor Tiberius held his bacchanalia there at the Villa Jovis, local authorities in the exclusive Bay of Naples resort, where 1930s singing sensation Gracie Fields lived for more than 40 years, are guaranteeing visitors complete quiet in addition to the breathtaking panoramas.

In Capri, there's not a foam party in sight; instead the rich and famous recline by the pools of luxury villas and discreet hotels that dot its mountainous green slopes, perhaps looking up occasionally to admire the view across the bay to the chaotic port of Naples. And no doubt they all appreciate Capri's relative calm. The ones without gym-toned bodies might even approve of existing regulations that forbid immodest dress in its pretty central square, La Piazzetta.

Local police chief Marica Avellino this week signed ordinance number 30, which from April to October allows for Fines ranging from €50 to €500 for local people who make too much noise – and disturb the tranquillity of tourists.

The building and gardening industries will be worst hit, with only two, two-hour slots in which machinery can be used – noon till 2pm and from 6pm till 8pm. In the peak season from the end of July till the start of October, the noise police will be even more insistent, with a complete ban enforced on any sort of machinery or gardening equipment, from diggers to annoying strimmers that could disturb a tourist's 40 winks. 

Source: The Independent