As an exceptional heatwave grips Europe with record-breaking temperatures, proper hydration has become an overriding public health priority. However, free access to drinking water in restaurants, bars or hotels remains a patchwork right across Europe.
The debate has been reignited by a recent and final ruling by Italy’s Court of Cassation, which draws a clear line between commercial freedom and cultural ethics.
Why the Court of Cassation sided with the hotel in the Dolomites
In an order issued on 29 April, the Court of Cassation ruled that a five-star hotel in the Dolomites acted entirely lawfully when it refused to provide tap water to a guest.
The case dates back to the 2019 Christmas holidays at the Sassongher hotel in Corvara in Badia, in Trentino-Alto Adige. The guest had purchased a half-board package costing more than €5,700, with the clause "drinks excluded". During dinner, the hotel staff refused to let her have tap water, offering only bottled mineral water at €7 a bottle and rejecting her proposal to pay a flat-rate supplement for jugs of mains water.
