«The square is ours, remove everything» . No sooner said than done. Better to obey the "masters" of the area, to avoid retaliation and harassment of customers. So one of the places in Piazza del Carmine , in Cagliari , had to give up placing the tables outdoors : a double insult, given that the incident dates back to the Covid period, when public land was free to occupy and indoor seats were limited .

Only one, however emblematic, of the many cases testifying to the frustration and sense of helplessness that the traders of the square , now a land of delinquency, experience every day. Among them there are those who prefer not to talk, "we are exasperated", and those who do so while remaining anonymous: "Among my colleagues", says the owner of one of the businesses, "some argue, perhaps rightly, that we argue more about the situation, fewer people arrive ». So they prefer to swallow it and go on, with the emergency that feeds day by day, between drug dealing in the light of the sun and continuous fights : «The two things are often connected: most of the time it is a matter of quarrels for territorial reasons , for the fear that someone might take away the drug dealing square from the other".

The feeling you breathe is that someone feels they are now the boss of the neighborhood: «Over time they have become more arrogant », continues one of the traders, «I can see it precisely from the way they treat us. And it's not just about non-EU citizens ». The situation, they say, has worsened in the last two years: « Since June 2021 the permanent garrison of the police has been removed . It was a deterrent, at least we didn't feel abandoned: it's a form of consideration, both for the exhibitors and for the residents. From this point of view, the prefect and the questore, and not so much the mayor, have responsibilities on private citizens that are not honored".

In the absence of a fixed control, anarchy seems to reign: «In the past», they explain from one of the businesses, «we had a refrigerator near the entrance door, with some food products inside. It often happened that one of them, without even entering, stretched out an arm to steal a sausage or something like that». And eventually the fridge was moved. It is enough to walk a few tens of meters, changing premises, to get the story of another episode: «One day there was an argument between two of the boys who occupy the square: they grabbed the chairs I had put outside and they are thrown at them, destroying them . Obviously I have never been repaid by anyone. Also because communicating with these people is not easy: "In the height of summer we are forced to close at 19.30-20 and run away , to avoid having to deal with them: they are often drunk and become annoying ".

And the arrival of the summer season, instead of representing an opportunity for the traders, becomes a nightmare: « In good weather they have a better chance of camping out . Furthermore, the day is longer and they spend it entirely here». The repercussions, also from an economic point of view, are heavy, as another of the owners of a business reports: « There are customers who tell me that they don't go to Piazza del Carmine at all . Every day there's a fight, there's screaming, someone does their business. Once, after a violent argument, I saw a non-EU boy on the ground. I thought he was dead .'

A problem of prevention but not only: «It is true that the squares need to be redeveloped, but that is not enough. Italy is the land of impunity: they take them and release them immediately , due to full prisons. We cannot tolerate it. Habitual offenders», he maintains, «must have a release document: I'll pay for the trip. One of them, I know by now, was arrested and then released fifteen times . We feel cheated. I personally am not afraid, I know how to defend myself, but it can happen that they have a knife. And if I were to react, I'd end up in jail." The tone of voice changes, a tangible sign of exasperation for a situation which, year after year, knows no improvement.

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