Off to Italy this summer? Then do try to stay on the right side of the law. As Steven Spielberg has just discovered, even movie directors with 85-metre yachts and Gwyneth Paltrow in a bikini can blot their copybooks. Spielberg had to pay €172 (£150) after taking a speedboat too close to a beach at Porto Liscia in Sardinia. But there are many other ways to fall foul of the authorities:
• In Eraclea, near Venice, it's illegal to build sandcastles on the beach. They "obstruct the passage", apparently.
• In Lerici, on the Italian riviera, you must wear more than just swimwear on your way to and from the seaside. Once back at your lodgings, you must not hang your towels out of the window to dry them.
• The island of Capri also insists that holiday-makers dress modestly in the street. Quietly, as well: noisy shoes such as clogs or wooden-soled sandals will land you in trouble.
• Castellammare di Stabia, south of Naples, has outlawed miniskirts, low-cut jeans and too much cleavage. Offenders face a €300 fine. Also forbidden: swearing in public, lying on benches, climbing trees and walking a dog on too long a leash.
• In Lucca, in Tuscany, you must not feed pigeons in the town centre. (Cesena, on the Adriatic coast, extends the ban to feral cats.)
• In Eboli, you'd better check your wallet before kissing anyone in a car. The maximum fine for such a transgression is €500.
• In Rome, it's forbidden to eat in the street in the historic centre.
Finally, wherever you are in Italy, if you're a man you must not grab your crotch ostentatiously, even for the time-honoured purpose of warding off bad luck – such as visiting a country where almost everything is prohibited.
