Spiagge Bianche, Vada beach, Rosignano Marittimo, Tuscany, Italy. Photo source: ©© Michele Molinari
Excerpts;
This deceiving white sand beach gets its brilliant hue from the chemical discharge of a nearby factory.
Most beaches in Italy are distinctly Mediterranean, featuring darker water and rocky cliffs, but on the western coast of the country there lies a stretch of white sand alongside a bright hue of turquoise water. Unlike most of the Italian coastline, this idyllic beach appears to perfectly resemble that of a pristine Caribbean resort—that is, with the exception of the giant smokestacks looming behind it…
Read Full Article; Atlas Obscura (2017)
A Caribbean beach in Tuscany? No, i’s just an illusion, GeoSocial (08-17-2014)
The “Spiagge bianche” (“White beaches”) in Rosignano Solvay, a small town in southern Tuscany, have been luring many thousands of tourists to this stretch of Tyrrhenian shoreline for years.
In a report issued by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1999, Rosignano was listed among the “Priority pollution hot spots and sensitive areas in the Mediterranean”. In recent years, local environmental activists have repeatedly called for actions aimed at assessing potential hazards posed by the discharge of chemicals into the sea…
En Italie, une plage «paradisiaque» à proximité d’une usine fait polémique; Le Figaro (08-30-2018)
