I have icy Northern European skin, and a dreadful sunburn from one afternoon of swimming in the Atlantic on Friday. The 45spf washed right off!
So do it. The Mediterranean climate is quite different. Each year my ex would take me home to spend the month of August with his family on the beach at Termoli. After several days of exposure, I turned into an Italian goddess! The skin would bronze up, the blue eyes would turn turquoise and the mousy brown hair reverberated with golden highlights. It made him quite jealous ;-0