Capoterra, a square for Enrico Berlinguer
The Casa del Popolo should have been built in that area
A square dedicated to Berlinguer will rise in Capoterra, a town about twenty kilometers from Cagliari. About 40 years after the fundraising for the - never born - “Casa Del Popolo”, the threads of history are re-tied. And the dream of militant historians, in part, is realized. A four-decade-long dream. It was the year 1982. To be precise, it was June 25th. There was a general strike called by CGIL, CISL and UIL in support of the dispute over contract renewals and to protest against Confindustria's unilateral decision to suspend the escalator. From Cagliari departed a ship dressed in red loaded with militants of the Italian Communist Party, the glorious PCI, the largest communist party in Western Europe, founded in 1921 and dissolved in 1991.
A delegation from Capoterra was also on board, led by the late Giancarlo Atzori, Salvatore Littarru, and other militant historians. In Rome, a fundraiser was improvised for the construction of the town's Casa del Popolo, which, in the desire of the comrades, should have hosted the party section. There was a moving solidarity contest. The workers, who with their meager salary had to support their families, very often single-income, pensioners, farmers, gave up the little they had in their pockets to allow Capoterra's comrades to realize their dream, their ideals of brotherhood, the same that united all the working masses.
Salvatore Littarru, then he was little more than a kid, but he still has those episodes imprinted in his mind. "It was a competition to lend a hand, there was a lot of enthusiasm, no one had evaded and had contributed as best he could to the cause", recalls Littarru who for four terms was a municipal councilor in the ranks of the PCI, then in the PDS and finally in the Ds. Fundraising continued in the village, upon returning from the great general strike, and the generosity of the Capoterresi made itself felt, especially on the occasion of the Festa dell'Unità.
Thus the great desire to be able to buy the land to build the Casa del Popolo in via Indipendenza, in the historic center of the town, became a beautiful reality. Among the militant historians, Carlo Cau, a former PCI councilor and today one of the members of the senior council, remembers the enthusiasm of those days: «That world no longer exists. Shortly thereafter, the largest party, the PCI, will put aside the hammer and sickle and the "sun of the future" ».
Full-time militancy. "Those were times when doing political activity meant giving up free time for oneself and for the family - recalls Littarru - and during the demonstrations there was the fear of attacks despite the party's order service, but faith in the ideals of justice social was unwavering ».
In the years following the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet bloc, the Italian Communist Party gave way to the birth of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS). With the end of the communist dream that drags with it the ideals of so many militant elderly, the Casa del Popolo in Via Indipendenza ends up in the oblivion of history. The land is part of the heritage of the Berlinguer Foundation. The area, where an important political and social garrison should have been built, is in a state of neglect, with weeds and waste. In addition, it has become a cause for discomfort and degradation.
The local symbol, of the glorious era of symbols and ideals, of which there was no longer any trace left, drew the attention of the center-left administration of Capoterra, led by the mayor Francesco Dessì: "We immediately thought of organizing some meetings with the managers of the Foundation with the aim of returning, even if in part, the right destination to that site, in line with its original function ".
Berlinguer Square. It does not take long for an idea to materialize: the area is sold at a symbolic price to the Municipality to create a square in the historic center of the town named after the most beloved secretary of the Communist Party: Enrico Berlinguer. «An idea that has the flavor of redemption, and in the name of continuity. The land where the Casa del Popolo should have been built could not have had a better destination ”, underlines the president of the Francesco Berria Foundation. He adds: "We could not fail to favor the Municipality with a symbolic transfer of 10 thousand euros in exchange for the guarantee of the title to Enrico Berlinguer".
The project by architect Gian Marco Baire envisages the construction of a square dedicated to the great leader and a connecting road between the square of Chiesa Sant'Efisio and Via Indipendenza, as in the town of Don Camillo. The total cost of the work, once completed and equipped with all street furniture, will amount to 370,000 euros.
The area will be returned to the whole community. "The sacrifice of the comrades was not in vain," Littarru proudly comments. In short, 40 years later the thread of history is re-tied. And in Capoterra, among the old militants and the new ones gathered under the banner of the Democratic Party, there are many who want to believe it: perhaps this was the dream of the many comrades of the time, many of whom left without having seen it realized.
