(Sixth Power) – Rimini, 14 June 2024 – A thousand small and very small family businesses, which guarantee bathing services and safety at affordable costs: they are the so-called “lifeguards” of Romagna, the backbone of the country’s tourist imagination, as well as unique model in the world of cooperative organization of the seaside microcosm.
Legacoop Romagna’s comment
“This experience is on the verge of extinction, because after years of postponements and interpretations of the Bolkestein directive, tenders for concessions are upon us, but there isn’t even a law on the horizon that dictates fair and safe access rules. The melee will move to individual municipalities, where local micro operators risk being swept away by large companies and multinationals, one umbrella at a time, as has already happened in other parts of Italy”: notes Legacoop Romagna (in the photos in the center President Lucchi) who, together with the 15 lifeguard cooperatives on the Riviera, decided to launch a campaign entitled “Let’s save the beaches of Romagna”.
The collection of signatures started today at Bagno 62 in Rimini and will continue until September in all beach establishments from Ferrara to Cattolica.
Tourists will be able to join either with a signature or with their smartphone, by connecting to the appropriate platform.
The “Rimini Manifesto”
At the center of the petition is the “Rimini Manifesto”, a document of urgent proposals addressed to the government, already shared with numerous protagonists of the political, cultural and institutional life of the country.
Legacoop and the cooperatives urgently ask the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, to “commit in every location to save the seaside sector”.
Among the main requests is a law to reorganize state concessions, which gives seaside tourism a stable and homogeneous framework at a territorial level, capable of supporting its development.
Legacoop urges the government to: “defend the work of those who work on beach concessions and to recognize the market value of companies”.
The objective is to safeguard and give continuity to the current service model, which is one of the fundamental cornerstones of the region’s tourism offer.
“For decades – the promoters remind Meloni – the bathing cooperatives have guaranteed the territory and tourists a high level of safety on the beaches and provide services for the benefit of the communities, thanks to their experience and professionalism”.
The cooperatives of seaside entrepreneurs are members of Legacoop: Cooperative of beach establishments of Lidi Estensi and Spina, Cooperative of lifeguards of Cervia, Cooperative of seaside establishments of Cesenatico, Cooperative of lifeguards of Gatteo Mare, Cooperative of lifeguards of Bellaria Igea Marina, Cooperative of beach operators in Rimini, Cooperative of seaside resorts Rimini Sud, Riccione Lifeguard Cooperative, Adriatica Riccione Lifeguard Cooperative, Riviera Riccione Lifeguard Cooperative, Misano Lifeguard Cooperative, Misano Rescue Sailors Cooperative, Misano Beach Services Consortium, Cattolica Lifeguard Cooperative. The Cooperativa Spiagge Ravenna also joined the Rimini Manifesto.
THE signatories
Among others, the regional councilor for Tourism, Andrea Corsini, the mayor of Rimini, Jamil Sadegholvaad, the mayor and president of the Province, share the aims of the initiative, which is also the result of a continuous comparison with the institutions and political forces. of Ravenna, Michele de Pascale, the president of the Province of Forlì-Cesena, Enzo Lattuca, the mayor of Cesenatico, Matteo Gozzoli, the new mayor of Cervia, Mattia Missiroli, the mayor of Misano Adriatico, Fabrizio Piccioni, the mayor of Riccione, Daniela Angelini, the mayor of Cattolica, Franca Foronchi, the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Ferrara Ravenna, Giorgio Guberti, the president of the legislative assembly of Emilia-Romagna, Emma Petitti, and the regional councilors Massimo Bulbi, Mirella Dalfiume, Lia Montalti , Nadia Rossi and Manuela Rontini. The drafting of the Manifesto was also achieved following a discussion with parliamentarians Andrea Gnassi, Ouidad Bakkali and Marco Croatti.
