The summer season is in full swing and the Financial Police controls on structures that every year, at this time, welcome streams of tourists from all over the country are intensifying. In Salento, the Provincial Command of Lecce carried out inspections in dozens of apartments, uncovering numerous “chicken coop” houses that hosted numbers of people well above legal limits. The law enforcement also uncovered other irregularities, from the use of garages as living spaces to the failure to notify the Police Headquarters of the accommodated persons, including violations of the obligation to display the Cin.
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Overcrowding
A major operation that saw the soldiers of the Gallipoli company collaborate with the local Police led to the inspection of 70 apartments in the seaside districts of Baia Verde and Lido San Giovanni, finding 480 tourists – of whom 123 were minors – paying rents ranging from 2,000 to 5,000 euros per week.
Checks revealed that the structures hosted 100 people in excess of legal limits, for a total of 27 violations of the ordinance issued in June 2026 by the mayor of Gallipoli, Flavio Fasano. The provision regulates the housing density of residential units by setting limits based on square footage, to curb the problem of “chicken coop” houses and protect people’s health, public hygiene, and urban safety.
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In one case, law enforcement found 17 young people, eleven of whom were minors, in an apartment where a maximum of nine people could be accommodated.
Sanctions
Landlords will have to pay fines totaling over 48,000 euros. The municipal ordinance provides for fines of 480 euros for each person found in excess, in addition to the immediate restoration of the legal number of tenants through forced eviction and the instant removal of the excess persons.
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