East Naples recover the sea, little by little something changes. There is a wind that cancels out the first summer heat on the beach he looks at Pietrarsa, yet on the seashore dozens of kids have spread out their towels and are almost all in the water enjoying the first dives of the season. It would be a banal image in any corner of the world, here in San Giovanni a Teduccio this dive has the flavor of a great event.
The sea of Pietrarsa had been forbidden to bathing for decades: only this year, just over a month ago, did Arpac, the regional agency for environmental protection, obtain new permits for bathability. Therefore entering this water today is like crossing a finish line, projecting yourself into the future.
It is a small slice of the sea, yet the meaning of the result is great, and is taken in by everyone San Giovanni a Teduccio like the beginning of a new life in contact with the sea that has been forgotten for too many years.
The beach with its recovered sea is pampered with love by the many members of the association “Sea Bagno San Giovanni”: they took care of the beach even when the sea was forbidden, now that it is swimmable again they are enthusiastic. They are ready to tell you a thousand stories related to the beach that the people of the eastern area of Naples, once a working-class portion of the city, lived on that sand; they are determined, above all, to explain to you that that beach belongs to everyone, but it is only they who take care of it.
After the sea storms they spend at least four consecutive days clearing the beach from the rubbish brought by the sea; every morning they go around collecting rubbish to take it to the rubbish containers that they themselves have placed everywhere; they show the path of wooden planks that leads to the sea and explain that they built it with their own hands, well before the installation of the plastic walkways (“how ugly are they”) that the Municipality installed. Now they are even thinking of buying one of those small tractors that allows the sand to be filtered from even the smallest pieces of rubbish «it costs just over a thousand euros, if each of us puts in something we can do it», they say with inexplicable passion. And instead there is an explanation: “This is our beach, it is the beach of San Giovanni and if we don’t take care of it, no one will.”
A few meters further on, in the direction of Naples, there is the other beach of San Giovanni a Teduccio, the one that has not yet obtained approval for bathing. No navigator to reach it, more romantic to ask passers-by: «You have arrived, immediately after the church turn left – the elderly gentleman is friendly – don’t worry if it says that swimming is prohibited. You can do it because that water is crystal clear.” The final comment makes the photographer smile, Renato. In that gloss there is all the hope of a neighborhood that dreams of recovering its sea in its entirety. And the goal is very close.
«After having resolved the Pietrarsa issue, we are in the process of carrying out strict controls for that stretch too – explains the general director of Arpac, Stefano Sorvino – Obviously there will need to be a long and meticulous process to restore bathing ability to that place too. Three series of “clean” analyzes are needed before a sea that was highly contaminated can be reopened for bathing.” Director Sorvino doesn’t go too far, we do: by the autumn of 2025, if all goes well, even the last stretch of the sea in East Naples could be swimmable again.
In the meantime, on that little beach, where two restaurants are set up that are aiming for a positive turn, there are many sunbeds and some very young couples looking for summer, even if no one is swimming yet.
«But do you know that they are preparing a path for bicycles and pedestrians, which runs along the entire sea of San Giovanni?», after the underpass that leads to the beach, a white-haired gentleman indicates an area hidden by grates and walls, and already sees the cycle path that connects directly to the heart of Naples.
There are many projects for the relaunch of San Giovanni, starting from the recovery of the area of the former Corradini factory, passing through the creation of a modern student residence at the service of Federico II which is becoming more and more central here in the eastern area, and ending with long connection route with Naples dedicated to bikes and pedestrians, along which a new economy linked to leisure, entertainment and the sea will sprout. This is why on the beach where the sea is still prohibited the establishments we told you about have already established themselves: the “East Naples” Of Antonio Salvo and the “Francischiello”, of a group of young entrepreneurs, Giuseppe Comunale, Umberto Bizzarro, Alessandro Sanzullo and Annalisa Acampora. All of them are already capable of seeing the future and are betting on the recovery of the San Giovanni waterfront which will see them as protagonists because they are the first to have bet on rebirth.
The province of Naples has almost entirely recovered its sea. In early 2024 there had been little doubt about bodies of water of Ischia and the coast, but further analyzes clarified that it was only a temporary issue and that the sea is suitable for swimming everywhere, even in front of the seafront of Naples. “There may be small periods of limitation – explains the director of Arpac – but they are connected to temporary events”.
The only stretch for which no turns are expected soon is that of Bagnoli. It is forbidden to reach the sea from the beach in front of the former industrial area: «But in that case the problem is linked to the contamination of the beach – he specifies Stefano Sorvino – and it seems to me that there is a lot of activity to get there soon quenching and tempering. Once that objective has been achieved, I believe that bathing can be granted without problems.”
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