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To each his island: in Italy beach paradises on sale
05 November, Il Fatto Quotidiano
The island of Capo Passero, in Siracusa, is stunning: 1300 metres for 400, with the remains of an old ship of the beginning of the 20th century. The owner, Francesco Bruno di Belmonte sold it (allegedly for 10 thousand euro) to a group of engineers and architects from Mantua. The Mayor of Portopalo di Capopassero has the following project: a “conservative renovation” of the ship. Regarding the other properties of the island, the plan is a “conservative renovation with reconversion for touristic use”. Translated: 18 suits, a restaurant of excellent quality, 110 rooms, bars, a wellness centre, swimming pools, and a solarium. “The properties of the island are today crumbling and abandoned – explains the Mayor- but the island will not change its face”. With the only exception for extra-luxury resorts.
There are tens of islands and islets currently on sale in Italy. Public or private, in most cases, they have strict landscape control limits. And they cost several millions of euro: an investment that, unless the case of a patron of pristine nature, buyers are trying to get a return from it.
The island of Capo Passero, for instance, was a natural reserve established in 1991 with a decree then declared illegitimate by the Council in 2014. In 1995 the reserve was re-inserted in another regional decree, but the owners challenged the decision and won. The Region didn’t take an action. The Municipality explains, there is still the limit of Nature dated 2000 that identifies the island as an area of common interest. “Its unique position, according to the Minister for Environment, makes of the island a site of great interest from a naturalistic and biological point of view, with a diverse habitat and a variety of animals and plants”. On Thursday, Legambiente announced an appeal to the Councillor for cultural heritage in order to deny the authorization to sell. “We’re worried that they are pretending to not know that the island is a reserve”.
A check at the international website is enough to find other little islands on sale. For instance, the island of Cerboli is on sale for 4 million, with 4 hectares, located in the National Park of the Archipelago of Tuscany, where any construction activity is prohibited. The area is also included in the special protection area of the European Union (Direttiva Uccelli) including Palmaiola and other minor islets around Elba. On the website of the Arezzo-based real estate agency Remolini, the Isola delle Femmine (Sicily) has been on sale since September, with 15 hectares, at the price of 3.5 million euro. Four brothers of the aristocratic family descendant of the patriot Rosolino Pio declared themselves the owners of the island. “It’s a natural reserve as well as a marine reserve protected since 2002. It’s a site of common interest, a special conservation zone, and a geological site of the Region of Sicily” – lists the Mayor Stefano Bologna – “these limits don’t allow a commercial use of the island. Who buys it will have to limit at enjoying it”. There has been certainly a lot of competition for the island: in the Seventies, the administration wrote to the descendants to ask for more touristic investments. In 2008, the Municipality (whose inhabitants are concentrated in the mainland in front of the island), wrote again to the descendants regarding the renovation works of the 14th-century tower, rather than intervening on its own or through the Region. These two facts allowed the descendants to claim and obtain the ownership of the island in 2012.
The State is also selling its jewels, such as in the case of the island of Poveglia in the Venice lagoon. The committee “Poveglia for everyone” has collected through the years 480 thousand euro with crowdfunding asking the State Property Office the permit of managing the island in an eco-sustainable way and for non-profit activities. After nearly one thousand days, the committee hasn’t got an answer yet. The State Property Authority, in the meanwhile, is thinking to include the island in the tender for the sale of the lighthouses: “But the score for the economic offer is very high – explains the president Lorenzo Pesola – to which we must add 30-40 million for the requalification. In this way, non-profit organizations are excluded”. In 2014, the current Mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, tried to purchase the island for 513 million euro, but the offer wasn’t judged compliant by the State Property Office. In this case too, based on the rules of state property federalism (allowing the local authorities to become owners of abandoned or underused by the State properties), the Municipality of Venice could have claimed the ownership and assign it to an association for the management. “The hospitality sector is the favourite – explain Pesola – thinking it’s the only sector able to give new life to Italy. Hence, the State Property Office in its economic planning behaves like a real estate agent for international holdings, rather than favouring local business and their projects. It’s impossible to sell an island for two million euro and resolve the public debt”.
The island of Santo Stefano, one of the Ponza islands, is safe (for the moment), it has been put on sale for 20 million by Orazio Ciardo. The islet near Ventotene is private for 27 hectares and public for 3 hectares, there is the project for a European study centre for 70 million euro funded by Cipe. Here is the old prison where Sandro Pertini was imprisoned, plus the island has restraints. This factor, together with the price, contributes to leaving the island without buyers. Isola di Marinella, in Sardinia, risked in 2014 to become a resort specialised in extra-marital encounters. The project has then failed but the island is still on sale. There are already villas and docks. The risk is if the reforms promoted by the Pigliaru administrations are approved, the construction just before the shores will become even easier. “Does who buy these islands for several millions – explains the Green Party coordinator, Angelo Bonelli – think of making a real estate operation or using their political connections for new constructions? I have seen tens of restrained areas being turned into luxury hotels. We must monitor carefully, and so the Minister for Environment. For this reason, we’ve made a complaint”.
Source: Il Fatto Quotidiano
Translator: Cristina Ambrosi