度假胜地想对有钱人说不

Summer is the time of year for beaches, ice cream, family…and complaining about the rich.

Whether it is the Hamptons in New York, or Aspen, Colo., or Cape Cod, Mass., or the Med, the song is the same: The rich are ruining the place, according to the oldtimers. The small cottages and local charms have given way to monstrous mansions and luxury chain stores and crowds of wealthy people jostling at 7 a.m. for the same $5 muffins.

And there isn't much a town can do. Or is there?

The mayor of a seaside resort town in Italy became so fed up with the annual invasion of wealthy Russians that he has imposed draconian measures to keep them out. Mayor Umberto Buratti of Forte dei Marmi, the famed retreat of rich Italians, celebrities and artists, has imposed a 20-year ban on selling real estate to foreigners. He also has set aside land with sea views that will be sold only to locally born buyers or long-term residents.

'We want to safeguard the character of the town instead of seeing it turn into a place with no ties,' Mr. Buratti told the Guardian.

He says locals have been priced out by Russians willing to pay as much as to 100,000 ($126,400) to rent villas for the summer. A town councilor added: 'You look at the designer shops round here and we could be in London.'

It all sounds noble. But Mr. Buratti may be overlooking two important considerations. First, lots of locals have gotten wealthy (or wealthier, anyway) from those 'dreaded' Russians. Whether it is renting their villas for 100,000, or selling them calamari and Barolo at the local restaurants, the locals have probably weathered this recessionary summer better than most.

Second, the Russian super-rich can probably figure out ways around the rules anyway. Like getting a local to act as the front man in any purchase.

Mr. Buratti has got a point about great wealth bulldozing a town's culture. But at a time when many communities around the world could use some excessive spending and the jobs that can create, his crusade may turn out to be more of a political statement that economic reality.

Do you think any towns in the U.S. should copy Mr. Buratti's plan?