interviews: Nina Vaclavikova
A dispute over a €7 bottle of water in the Dolomites has ended with a definitive ruling from Italy’s highest court: restaurants and hotels are not legally required to serve tap water to customers.
The case began during the 2019 holiday season at the five-star Hotel Sassongher in Corvara, a mountain resort in South Tyrol. A guest dining on a half-board package asked for tap water and offered to pay a service fee. The hotel declined, explaining that only bottled mineral water — priced at €7 for a 0.75-liter bottle — was available at the table.
The guest took the matter to court, arguing that access to water is a fundamental right and that hotels should be obliged to provide it, much like basic amenities such as bed linens or soap. She sought €2,700 in damages.
Her claim was rejected by a lower court, dismissed on appeal, and finally denied by Italy’s Court of Cassation, which ruled in April that no Italian law obliges hospitality businesses to serve tap water. The decision, the court said, rests entirely with individual establishments.
The ruling highlights a broader European divide. Restaurants in France must provide water with meals, while licensed venues in England, Wales and Spain are required to offer drinking water upon request. Italy, like Germany, imposes no such obligation.
For many diners in Italy, the decision merely confirms a long-standing custom. Bottled water remains a standard feature of restaurant service, while tap water, though often available if requested, is offered as a courtesy rather than a legal right.
The case has revived debate over consumer rights and sustainability in a country known for the quality of its public drinking water. But the legal question has now been settled: in Italy, the bottle on the table remains a matter of choice — and of business policy.
