The barriers they have been there for years, ready to climb over to reach the sunbathing pier a Broken Column, theoretically forbidden for safety reasons due to the winter storms of 2021, but practically always crowded in the summer, given the almost chronic lack of space and sand between via Partenope, via Caracciolo, Mergellina and Sermoneta Square.
With little beach available, there would be rocks, but in several places they have been transformed into small savannas of weeds and, unfortunately, waste left by uncivilized people. The sea bathes Naplesbut it is the seafront that is missing, at least from the point of view of services. The coastline, which nevertheless attracts tourists from every continent and events (from the Giro d’Italia to the Racing Show), is less exploited than it could be.
The backstory
And decades, the relationship between the Neapolitan capital and the waters that surround it is not functional nor put to best use. The Municipality, with the councilor for Mobility, to Infrastructure and the Sea Edoardo Cosenza – who in any case a Mappatella Beach of Rotonda Diaz has set up all the necessary structures – is trying to solve the puzzle for a new management of the city center waterfront. «We are pushing for a streamlining of the marine bureaucracy – argues Cosenza himself – that allows us to intervene directly in certain areas, which technically are not under municipal jurisdiction».
The crowd
The French tourists go up the coast, looking for a quiet space between the rocks of Via Partenope. But they are forced to slalom between vegetation, abandoned bins and other obstacles. A little further on, towards Piazza Vittoria and the Colonna Spezzata, there is a crowd of bathers who, having bypassed the obstacle of the barriers, gather and dive from the ruined pier. Nobody put it back, two and a half years after the storms that destroyed it (the same ones that also damaged Castel dell’Ovo – off-limits, today with work in progress – and the Bourbon Arch, still awaiting reconstruction). Furthermore, there is not even a shadow of lifeguards on the entire coast. It is an anarchic sea, that of the city center, where the law of “let’s hope I get away” applies. The sea is there, but swimmers are forced to learn the art of making do. The reasons for the absence of a management plan, it should be underlined, are mostly bureaucratic, and concern the distribution of skills and on the coastal areas. We will return to this point shortly, with the words of Councilor Cosenza.
The map
As mentioned above, the law of chaos on the seafront must be subtracted from the Mappatella Beach, where the Municipality has set up services, showers and platforms. We are talking about the largest slice of free beach in the city among those that do not have a limited number of people and an obligation to book online. There is no shortage of crowds here, of course. And right here, yesterday, Europa Verde organized a demonstration for legality, after the attacks suffered, at the hands of illegal vendors, by the deputy Francesco Emilio Borrelli and the owners of a kiosk. “We ask for zero tolerance against the illegal vendors, who interrupted the demonstration – Borrelli declared, Rosario VisoneJohn Sabatino, Rosary of PugliaAgostino Galiero, Nelide Milano, Benedetta Sciannimanica, Lorenzo Pascucci and Dino Di Palma –. Our battle will continue until legality is restored, at Mappatella Beach and at all the free beaches in the city. Mappatella has been liberated, thanks to many good people. After years of battle, this beach offers public toilets, showers and fountains, a platform and chairs for people with disabilities.
Hard-won rights, from which we will not back down. We are happy that the police jet skis have also arrived on the beach to make the area safe.”
The solution
The Municipality, we were saying, is trying to solve the conundrum of the management of the waterfront. “We have fixed up Largo Sermoneta, with chemical toilets, platforms, showers, deck chairs and umbrellas – says Cosenza – We have gained some space there too. As for the cliffs, maintenance is the responsibility of the Metropolitan City, while cleaning is the responsibility of the Port Authority. Paradoxically, the Municipality of Naples has no jurisdiction in this regard. Precisely for this reason, we are modifying this model. We are evaluating a simplification in synergy with the Port Authority, also to intervene on the canals, where waste ends up that perhaps citizens should not have thrown away. We are studying the possibility of a temporary transfer of the assignment of certain areas to the Municipality. We would intervene through Asia, I am pushing for this. We absolutely must simplify the marine bureaucracy”.
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