A provisional no-swimming (divieto di balneazione) order has been placed on many beaches throughout Lazio by the regional government, as biological tests on large stretches of sea have revealed worrying levels of pollution.

Extensive areas along the Lazio coast at Ladispoli, Fregene, Fiumicino, Torvaianica, Ardea, and Anzio and as far as Fondi and Gaeta, have large sections of their beaches declared off limits to swimmers. Pronounced crystal clear were Sperlonga, Terracina, Sabaudia, S. Felice Circeo, and the Pontine islands. Ostia and Nettuno also tested hygienically safe.

Curiously, the tests that brought about the ban for 2007 were carried out from May through September 2006, but a law passed in 1982 requires the veto be implemented for the following season.

Hopes are high, however, that the new biological analyses to be completed by the end of April may discover a healthier situation and that swimming will be allowed on majority of Lazio