We are publishing in full the reflection of one of our readers, the letter is signed, who, as she states, has collected stories and reflections from comments on social media at this start of the summer season. The theme is that of tourism, an apolitical reflection, says our reader, but which is not free from describing a reality that too often is different from expectations. She writes to us asking questions and at the same time giving answers, in some ways bitter ones. We propose her reflections below.
But how much do we like tourist Giovinazzo?
My summer began like this. With this question. Because the payment for parking “at home” starts in May, you start to no longer have the freedom to park wherever you like when you return exhausted after work or when you return with the shopping. No, because you need to pay even if your daily life takes place in that house. But you are aware, there comes that time of the year when parking spaces magically become free, but at the same time you can’t get one. Unless you, as a good resident, have purchased the pass. But even then you are not guaranteed a place from Friday evening until the end of Sunday. And as it goes on they seem to take the same turn every day of the week.
But oh well. There must be a reason why you can’t find parking anyway. And this reason certainly does not harm the country.
But how much do we like tourist Giovinazzo?
Even before the summer season begins, people are already muttering about structures erected on the beach. Because we don’t care that the sea had its say at the end of last summer. We try again undaunted. And not with innovative and alternative structures. Absolutely no. We are traditionalists in this too. Who knows if the sea will forgive us this year. But this is not what seems to interest most commentators. There is something more important: “Where will people go to bathe?” Because the free beach seems to be a distant memory, although not everything has been lost.
But how much do we like tourist Giovinazzo?
Everywhere you look there is renovation work. Most of the places abandoned because they lacked a second life are experiencing a rebirth. And how? Like B&B. Because if there’s demand, I don’t see why anyone wouldn’t get smart. And what about young people who are looking for rented premises to create a dignified independence? We’ll think about them another day or let them go elsewhere.
But how much do we like tourist Giovinazzo?
Lots of people crowd the streets, our little town is now considered by everyone to be a gem on the Bari coast. There is news that a luggage storage facility has even opened, and bike sharing stations can be seen around. Honorable and certainly cutting-edge initiatives, even if perhaps too little sponsored or overshadowed by what we don’t like. The walks become pleasant, the meeting places are teeming with life, Road to Batti announces its Giovinazzo stop for the second year in a row. And we don’t miss a single event.
But then, how much do we like the new tourist Giovinazzo?
Sunday 9 June 2024
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