This popular Italian city is turning away tourists this summer — because it’s running out of water
La not so dolce vita.
One popular tourist destination in Italy is discouraging visitors this summer for one unfortunate reason — they’re running out of water.
Agrigento, a hill town in Sicily, has been forced to reject tourists as the combination of extreme weather and an ancient, dysfunctional water supply system has left the city nearly bone dry.
The city, which was named the Italian Capital of Culture for 2025, is now unable to guarantee running water for its guests and must make a dedicated effort to find outside sources.
News of the limited supply has spread, deterring those hoping to clap eyes on Agrigento’s UNESCO World Heritage Site, known for its preserved Greek temples.
“Rightly, people ask us for reassurances before coming, but we don’t know what to say,” Giovanni Lopez, owner of the Le Cinque Novelle bed and breakfast, told CNN.
“The situation is quickly impacting the entire tourist accommodation sector, which risks serious economic consequences, given that tourism is a sector almost everyone in this part of Sicily relies on.”
Locals have claimed that it can take over half an hour to fill a bucket at times — and that hotels have had to buy their water to have enough to meet requirements for hosting guests.
Sicily first implemented water restrictions in February, when the region officially declared a state of emergency.
Cities throughout Italy have been experiencing severe droughts, but Sicily’s situation is one of the worst, having been listed as “extreme,” the highest level, according to the Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), CNN reported.
More than 1 million people across 93 communities on the largest of the Mediterranean islands are now seeing their water access restricted — with some having to reduce consumption by up to nearly 50%.
The Sicilian regional government has reportedly asked Rome — the country’s capital — for help importing water from the mainland. There has also been discussion about rebuilding the ancient aqueduct system. But a decade after those talks began, no plans have been confirmed.
“The summer season is upon us and we are worried. No one has given us alternative solutions to the water tankers that we are paying for ourselves,” Marco Maccarrone, owner of the Caico Trattoria e Cantina restaurant in Agrigento told CNN.
“This risks destroying the only resource we have — tourism.”
This year’s dip in tourism comes a year after visitors were turned away from the area after wildfires ravaged the island.
Others on the island rely on farming and agriculture, but these industries are also dwindling because of the drought.
Some farm animals are reportedly left to drink muddy sludge, while farmers are watching their harvests dry up — including famous Sicilian oranges.
Renato Schifani, Sicily’s regional president, claimed that the island’s losses of crops, empty reservoirs and dying livestock, have already surpassed $1 billion — and that’s without accounting for the loss of tourism.
