With shutters down, the historic center and airport devastated by the arrival of winter, Olbia's mayor, Settimo Nizzi, is cracking down on business owners . The Costa Smeralda management company, Geasar, is responding and ready to collaborate, and the Democratic Party rejects the accusations.

In a note sent to operators in the center and at the airport, to the president of Confcommercio Olbia, Edoardo Oggianu, and to the CEO of the airport management company, Geasar, Silvio Pippobello, Nizzi expressed his disappointment at the prolonged closure of shops and businesses.

«The conduct of those who keep the shutters down for prolonged periods is unacceptable and damaging to the collective reputation and that of the community: a lively and dynamic city cannot afford to present itself with its shutters down and essential services denied and those who have chosen to operate here have made a commitment to the community and to the territory», writes the mayor, adding that any catering business that remains closed for more than thirty consecutive days will not have its authorization to use public land renewed .

"The mayor raised a valid issue: the need to keep the area, and not just the city, vibrant even during the low season affects everyone," CEO Pippobello responded. "The goal is shared: to collaborate to find sustainable solutions in a context where operational challenges are well-known. We believe it is essential to schedule a meeting between the administration and operators as soon as possible to define a shared path that balances the economic needs of businesses and the continuity of services," Pippobello added, specifying that almost all food and beverage outlets at the airport are open as usual, with only redundant services designed for summer traffic, which is more than ten times higher than winter traffic, having been suspended. Geasar is committed to keeping the airport vibrant even during the low-traffic months with events, exhibitions, conferences, and demonstrations, open to all.

The Democratic Party ( PD) has raised its voice, blaming the depopulation of the historic center on administrative action. "The problem isn't the lowered shutters, but the political and urban planning decisions that have shut down Olbia during the off-season," replies the Democratic Party's city secretary, Pietro Spano. The reasons for the silence in the historic center, the PD maintains, lie in the lack of planning and a vision beyond the summer. "For years," says Spano, "there hasn't been a comprehensive calendar of musical, cultural, or theatrical events during the off-peak months, no consistent neighborhood initiatives, and no strategy to keep the city alive during the winter."

And during the summer, it's not the big events that make Olbia attractive. "For some time now, we've been witnessing a narrative that tourism success is due to administrative action, while it's the extraordinary nature of the area that sustains the season," adds Pietro Spano. According to Democratic Party representatives, the historic center is penalized, above all, by the decisions made by the municipal administration : "Increasingly less accessible, with public transportation not reaching the heart of the city, a constant reduction in parking spaces, the removal of shop signs, the requirement to remove covered outdoor spaces, and the opening of new shopping areas outside the historic center."

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