Istat rejects the Molise municipalities: only 47 out of 136 cities included in the tourist list established by the Region
One defeat after another based on rules that do not regulate but censor. Molise, plundered due to conditions that dictate burdensome and unworkable rules for the small region. The Regional Council of Molise, with a resolution, has established the list of tourist municipalities that will be able to apply the tourist tax as foreseen by the absurdity of the vaunted municipal fiscal federalism. As if the taxes were not enough which, due to the cancellation of equalization, see the municipalities forced to tax citizens and anyone who wants to be even for just one day. Thirty-four municipalities in the province of Campobasso and thirteen in that of Isernia were classified as tourist based on the 2019 Istat classification as if from 2019 to today nothing has changed in terms of tourist density. Excellent exclusions including Gambatesa, Macchia Valfortore, Petrella Tifernina, Matrice, Torella, Ripabottoni, Scapoli, Castel San Vincenzo, Cerro al Volturno, Monteroduni, Fornelli, Pescolanciano, Montenero Val Cocchiara. An ax that will not allow these countries that live mostly on tourism, thanks to Castles and Churches with an immeasurable history and of which we are proud, to be able to obtain funding like those allocated which in any case, even in this case, have seen the whole Molise cut out. The list of municipalities that will see the flag of tourist municipalities flying are and, not without surprises: Campobasso, Isernia, Termoli, Bojano, Busso, Campomarino, Castelmauro, Castropignano, Cercemaggiore, Cercepiccola, Civitacampomarano, Ferrazzano, Guardialfiera, Guglionesi, Jelsi, Larino, Lupara, Mafalda, Mirabello Sannitico, Montagano, Montemitro, Montenero di Bisaccia, Morrone del Sannio, Oratino, Petacciato, Portocannone, Riccia, Ripalimosani, Rotello, San Giuliano del Sannio, San Martino in Pensilis, San Massimo, Sant’ Elia in Pianisi, Sepino, Vinchiaturo, Agnone, Bagnoli del Trigno, Capracotta, Castel del Giudice, Castelpetroso, Pesche, Pietrabbondante, Pozzilli, Roccasicura, Santa Maria del Molise, Vastogirardi and Venafro. Think about whether the tourist tax in a context such as that of Santa Maria del Molise, Roccasicura or Vinchiaturo, to name a few, can positively influence those who arrive knowing that they are completely outside of conditions that guarantee transport, guided tours or major attractions except activities private, even valuable ones.
It is not well understood how Istat constructs the phase of naming the tourist vocation based on geographical criteria (proximity to the sea, altitude, etc.) and anthropic criteria (large urban municipalities) referring among other things to 2019 and not to the date of approval of the regional resolution and therefore without considering that in 5 years, for example, Castel San Vincenzo, a tourist destination of the highest level and with absolute expressive potential in this field, has grown by around 15 units suitable for reception, as happened for Fornelli, Scapoli, among other things belonging to the orange flag club, even before 2019, which at the basis of the annexation verifies the availability of accommodation facilities. It is not clear how to annex municipalities near the sea as if proximity is a condition for tourist flows capable of giving merit qualifications. The obligation on the part of the regional body not regulated in a mandatory burden, but which is nevertheless useful for planning for this purpose, could not have been conditioned by the Istat method, proceeding as other regions such as Piedmont, Veneto, Tuscany, Puglia and Abruzzo, with its own regulatory competition for the vocational choice of the Molise municipalities. The Council of State with sentence no. 1955/2024 left the identification of tourist locations for the purposes of establishing the tourist tax to the exclusive evaluation of the Regions, allowing only Municipalities that do not have any accommodation facilities to be excluded from the list. Time changes logic and feasibility with accentuation of characteristics or the loss of them. From 2019 to today, Molise, thanks also to the work carried out in the past years by Councilor Vincenzo Cotugno, by the Molise Autonomous Tourist and Tourism Agency and by private bodies and freelancers, Molise has seen an increase in credibility and receptivity, activities and cultural companies that never before show the best side of the region in terms of cultural activities, advertising products, hospitality. The Institution of the Sepino Archaeological Park, the physical structuring of museums and state places of great value, the established biodiversity of the territory which offers foods and crops of absolute food and wine wisdom, cannot be penalized by rules that border on the bureaucratic madness of a State who “gives with one hand and takes with two”. Soon the Ministry of Tourism, as it has done recently excluding Molise, will designate other funds for the so-called tourist-oriented municipalities and certainly, many countries with certified genuine propensity and attention to this condition of development and economy cannot be penalized by risking the paralysis and the definitive decline which is certainly not dictated solely by the condition attributed to depopulation. The Region has programmatic tasks that are not connected to spending alone, must follow its path and remedy a gross and unequal act which smacks of mockery. We are at the gates of summer and if there were an observatory in place, perhaps we would have had counts and certainties of numbers capable of certifying attendance and employees. The regional government, as it is composed, has the competence to do so, find the will and remedy an unhealthy way of positively influencing the peculiarities of a region that must no longer be penalized.
by Maurizio VARRIANO
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