La Maddalena Archipelago: dream islands but more respect and protection needed
Breathtaking views, yet all you have to do is look down and the ditches and green areas are littered with abandoned waste: who is responsible?Punta nera “clean” is almost an oxymoron, because you only need to move your gaze a few meters to see an insult to nature on the beach. We are in La Maddalena, the pearl of the Archipelago, a jewel set in a paradise in the mare nostrum. The wild bag and the lack of civilization affects everyone at every latitude but in Sardinia it has now become a style, an appendix to the holiday or a way to divert the payment of the Tari.
From north to south, especially in the summer months, along the gutters of the main arteries of the island, it is not difficult to find garbage bags or various waste that then remain there in plain sight for an indefinite time. In La Maddalena it is even more jarring, because the landscape is breathtaking. Spargi, Budelli, Santa Maria ... then further on Corsica on the other side Santo Stefano and Caprera. Emerald water, pink beaches, inlets and glimpses frame a dream island. In the rest areas along the slope the view is extraordinary and tourists appreciate it, enraptured by so much beauty. Are they the only ones responsible for the disfigurement? Those who travel in campers or cars or motorbikes? Those who use bicycles? Or are all the rude ones, many, too many who in the darkness of the night of a starry sky, heedless of the beauty that surrounds them, get rid of the garbage out of laziness or incivility.
Municipalities often suffer, they don't have the resources or they are distracted. A car to be scrapped at the entrance of the Teatro Fortezza "Il Colmi", where outdoor shows are organized, is not the best business card. Nor is a construction site that seems abandoned along the ridge in front of Spargi. Nature, sometimes, comes to the rescue. It makes the scars less evident. It hides a lot. The strawberry trees, mastic trees... the prickly pears act almost as a barrier, but it's not enough.
La Maddalena deserves respect. Every summer its sea is invaded by hundreds of boats, mega yachts that ply the Strait of Bonifacio. The boats go around the island, carrying thousands of visitors. The beautiful beaches (Cala Granara, Cala Soraya, Cala Corsara) are not equipped (there are no toilets) and the boats unload into the sea. The Park should demand greater attention from the Ministry and the Region and projects for an "extended" integral protection. The proposal of some enlightened entrepreneur includes the positioning of sewage deposits at sea in several points of the Archipelago, perhaps marked by flags. Interesting idea, we will see if it will be accepted and implemented within the next summer season.
The rest depends on us, on our sensitivity, education. On what we have learned from our parents and passed on to our children. And then there is the issue of the relaunch of La Maddalena, with the recovery of the former Arsenal. A project that has been at a standstill for years (the resources are in the coffers of the Region) while the remaining infrastructures are lashed by the wind that hits hard in these parts. But that's another story.