Coastal villages of Cinque Terre on Italy's Ligurian coast overwhelmed by mass tourism

The Telegraph newspaper reported this week that residents of the Italian coastal village of Cinque Terre feel overwhelmed by mass tourism in their region. The area surrounding Cinque Terre has been designated a world heritagesite on account of its "landscape of exceptional scenic quality that illustrates a traditional way of life that has existed for a thousand years".

However, with the establishment of a cruise ship terminal in nearby La Spezia the number of tourists has skyrocketed, congesting local streets and transportation networks, overwhelming refuse collection and leading to a widespread problem of public urination in back gardens and in doorways. Residents are expressing their unhappiness through an online petition, "Save the Cinque Terre from Mass Tourism", which calls for the number of visitors to the region to be managed better.

While the cruise industry was reportedly "saddened" to learn of residents' unhappiness, there is no word yet on what concrete steps if any the industry will take to address local concerns.