Naturist News from Italy

As promised, here is an overview of what I read in the latest issue of Info Naturista, the magazine of the Italian naturist association Fenait. Top  man Gianfranco Ribolzi returns to the old debate of naturism vs. nudism, are both different, how are they different, and can they coexist in the same organization. Naturists follow a philosophy, nudists just take off their clothes, is the usual explanation for the difference. 'The nudist gets nude to get a tan, the naturist gets a tan because he is nude,' is a quote from Ribolzi I will use again.
Fenait participates in international travel fairs each year where local naturist groups already have a stand, Utrecht and Brussels for example. The group says it distributed more than 500 flyers at those events as well as thousands of copies of its magazine. Do travel fairs outside of Europe also feature or even allow naturist associations to participate?
I already discussed the article about tattoos and piercings in my previous posting on this blog. The magazine continues with news from the local and regional naturist groups in Italy. Interesting to know: the Venice region might have a naturist beach at Jesolo, near the Laguna del Mort. According to the magazine, talks were going on earlier this year between Jesolo's city government and naturists, and optimism was the predominant tone of the talks. Naturism is apparently allowed, but the beach is not reserved for naturists only.
The Jesolo beach web site is here.
Other naturist activities include of course naturist hours at swimming pools and saunas, a frequent elements of naturism around the world, as well as beach-cleaning operations. Naturist groups also have stands at exhibitions on environmental and tourism themes.
As usual, Info Naturista ends with a bit of tourism and history, this time introducing the history of Turin with pictures of its churches and palaces.

Legal Progress in Italy

Italy seems to be making progress with legislation allowing naturism, but first let's turn to other topics in the latest edition of Info Naturista, the magazine of the Italian Naturist Federation Fenait which I receive on a regular basis. From the travails of our Italian friends, we can learn a lot about how naturism in Asia might evolve.

In his foreword, chairman Gianfranco Ribolzi mentions the year 2009 as the year of 'keeping afloat' because there was only a slight increase in membership.

However, in another article we read that worldwide, about 25 million people practice naturism, i.e. non-sexual public nudity such as swimming and sunbathing naked. So if you are in a naturism-unfriendly country in Asia, don't think you are just part of a small minority. 25 million people are already with you.

The International Naturist Federation has awarded its first world quality certificate for a naturist resort, and it went to Valalta in Rovinj, a picturesque town in the far north of Croatia, close to Slovenia and Italy. I had the pleasure of staying there back in 2004. The certificate system will be expanded to include all of Europe within the next three years.

Back in Italy, the biggest event concerning naturists has been the formation of a youth group, the Giovani Italiani Naturisti or GIN, putting to rest the often American perception that naturists are all elderly people. The group addresses naturists between the ages of 16 and 30 and will take part in a European naturist youth meet in Hamburg this year.

On the topic of legal progress, Gino Palumbo writes a report in the magazine about the different legislative proposals to allow naturism in Italy. One version wants to hide naturism too much in places "where non-naturists and children cannot see them." In fact, despite this formulation, many naturists I saw on beaches in Western Europe and at Valalta and Croatia are in fact young couples with children, and like parents everywhere, they should have the right to spend their holidays with their children, naked or not. Other problems with the new legislation include a possible bias in favor of large commercial resort operations, versus the free beaches without amenities and the small campings often run by grassroots naturists.

Palumbo also emphasizes the economic benefits of naturism. Each summer, Italian naturists hold an "exodus" to Croatia in the East and Corsica in the West to find naturist beaches and resorts, he says, and many North-European naturists just avoid Italy altogether and spend their Euros in other countries. The author points out rightly that Italy would be foolish to turn those tourists away, just like it would catastrophical if it didn't want tourists visit its churches and castles. Italy will make a fool of itself if it sends the police on to the beaches to persecute innocent naturists, he says.

One of Palumbo's suggestions is that each municipality with beaches should set aside a minimum of 5 or 10 percent of its coastline - along seas, lakes or rivers - to naturism. The measure should not only apply to beaches, but also to parks or other areas suitable for naturism, with naturist associations involved in the management of those areas.

The magazine further also mentions that a new naturist association for the Venice area saw an increase in membership of 56 percent - though it does not mention how many people that actually means - and that the group has been active in organizing sauna and dinner meetings.

As usual, the magazine concludes with a non-naturist tourism report - a visit to the ornate Stupinigi hunting lodge near Turin.

Over the next few weeks, I hope to be reporting on this blog about the next edition of Info Naturista, and more importantly, about new naturist associations in Asian countries.

Naturism in Italy since 1964

The first Italian naturist organizations were founded 45 years ago, in 1964, the latest edition of the magazine Info Naturista tells me. Just like in Asia, the inspiration came from abroad. Italians went traveling to the Levant island off the French coast, to the island of Corsica to the west and to the then-Yugoslav region of Istria and saw how many naturist resorts and campings there were, so they wanted to have the same at home. Unfortunately, the magazine notes, naturism never became as large and influential a movement as in the other Mediterranean countries, and even today, Italy is still struggling to become a naturist destination, as we have noted in previous posts.

The magazine also notes how naturism stands close to nature, and has a narrow connection with health, environment and respect for others. Originally, the founders of the movement acted or reacted against the negative effects of industrialization, by promoting a return to nature and to basic humanity.

Turning to another aspect, Italy was the host earlier this year to an international meeting of the Young European Naturists - disproving the image that naturism has, especially with some people in the United States, of only attracting an elderly crowd. What may be even more surprising to non-naturists, is that the opening meeting at the naturist resort of Le Betulle in Northwest Italy was attended by the mayor of the nearby town of La Cassa and by the chief of police in Turin, one of Italy's major industrial centers, the home of car giant Fiat. Can you imagine a naturist congress in a major Asian city being attended by the mayor and the chief of police? I can't, but I hope it will become reality one day. The young naturists also dressed up for a city tour of Turin, but their buses were accompanied during the trip by police on motorcycles. Just like VIPs.

As usual, the magazine reports on the activities of the regional naturist associations. While mostly of local interest, it is nevertheless an eye opener for Asian naturists that for example a swimming pool in Milan, the capital of Italian finance and fashion, has hosted four naturist events so far this year, each time attracting about 80 naturists. The association covering Northeast Italy - the area north of Venice - even succeeded in acquiring a new naturist home, Castelsalus, with its own ground for sunbathing and sports.

Finally, let me give you a couple of websites for Italian naturist organizations:

www.naturismoanita.it

www.italianaturista.it

www.liburniats.org

www.naturismoanaa-fkk.org