30

The maximum number of days tourists can stay on Easter Island in the southeastern Pacific, 3 500km from the coast of Chile.

The Chilean government, which annexed the territory in 1888, has reduced the limit from 90 days.

Despite its remote location, the island is a popular tourist destination, mainly for its enormous Moai statues, carved by the Rapa Nui people.

The island’s mayor, Petro Edmunds, told AFP that the decision had been taken for social and environmental concerns. “Customs from the continent” had begun to permeate the island and this was “not positive”, he said.