Sun, Sea and Sharia on Women-only Italian Beach

First there were pensioner holidays with Saga. Then came singles packages with Club 18-30.

Now an Italian seaside resort has taken speciality tourism into new territory in an effort to combine the delights of sun, sea and sand with a respect for sharia law.

The council of Riccione on the Adriatic riviera was reported yesterday to have altered its bylaws to allow a section of its famed beach to be closed off and made women-only.

That way Muslim women on holiday in the area could swim and enjoy themselves on the beach while respecting Islam's injunctions against mixed bathing and displaying their bodies to members of the opposite sex.

Some women-only beaches already exist along the Italian coast, but they are visible from mixed areas.

Loretta Villa, the councillor responsible for the initiative, told Corriere della Sera newspaper: "Riccione is a city that lives off tourism. We need to be in a position to respond to the demands of our guests. And in this case the motives are not superficial, but cultural and religious. We have already had some indirect requests for separate beach areas."

The proposed beach zone would also have an all-female staff, including women lifeguards.

The initiative appeared to have been prompted by a sharp increase in the number of free-spending tourists coming to Riccione from the Arabian peninsula.

Corriere della Sera reported that recent guests at the five-star Grand Hotel Des Bains had included a member of the Saudi royal family and the owner of a Saudi television channel, both of whom arrived with substantial entourages. The hotel told the paper it had met the demand for women-only swimming facilities by reserving the indoor pool for them.