At the press conference, held in front of the entrance of one of the beaches, Molnár said that a ticket cost 1,700 forints (EUR 4.8), while parking outside was 300 forints an hour.

The Socialists “represent the 99% that want no barbed wire or fence around natural waters” and protest the government and property developers “taking opportunities away from future generations”, he said.

Károly Lukoczki, a candidate of the Socialist-Párbeszéd alliance in the opposition’s preselection before next year’s parliamentary elections, said his parties would “do everything to ensure that Lake Balaton and other natural waters are accessible to everybody and not just to the privileged”.

Zoltán Vajda, another candidate, urged that tourism should be sustainable and lambasted local businesses “aimed at making guests pay through the nose, at all cost, with no regard to the environment”.


MTI Photo: Balázs Mohai