VIAREGGIO. The issue of the “beach auctions” ends up in the Prosecutor’s Office. A Lombard company, based in Como, has turned to the Lucca judiciary with a complaint-report in which it challenges the Municipality of Pietrasanta for the failure to start public tenders for the concessions of the Marina coastline. Considered «one of those with the greatest tourist and economic value in Versilia, and managed for decades by the same historic concessionaires».
In the complaint, the owner of the company, interested in competing in the tenders, asks the Prosecutor’s Office to carry out judicial investigations. It is the first case in Versilia and could be the beginning of a criminal investigation – the hypothesis, at the moment only that, is the accusation of omission of official acts – with outcomes yet to be deciphered. The Municipality of Pietrasanta, through the mayor Alberto Giovannetti, has already replied that it feels calm and confident in its work.
For some attentive observers, it was only a matter of time before the criminal judiciary was involved. And still regarding the courts, the verdict of the Council of State is awaited on what was requested by the Municipality of Pietrasanta itself regarding the validity of the current titles of the beach operators, and on the need to continue regularly with the tourist season before proceeding in autumn with the tenders. The step could be simply technical, therefore without producing consequences; or create further confusion in a sector where nothing is certain anymore. In fact, there is one certainty: the tenders will come, sooner or later.
Only a part of the concessionaires and politics still considers a return to the past possible, which today no longer fits the reality of facts. A pre-Bolkestein directive past, in which the titles of the beach operators were automatically renewed without a concrete verification or selection by the public administration. There are still those who claim that the concessions are “unlimited,” and therefore have turned to a law firm to proceed precisely with an all-out defense. However, in various parts of Italy, tenders have already been held: in Liguria and also in Elba. And there are administrations that promise the “reduction” of the establishments, expanding the free beach area.
Also in Versilia, where the municipalities act reluctantly against the beach operators, the machinery is moving. In Viareggio, appraisals have started on 87 establishments, to determine the economic compensation that would be due to the concessionaire in case they lost the tender; here too there is no shortage of controversy, because the appraisals are carried out by accountants appointed by the municipalities but paid by the beach operators themselves (about 6,000 euros per case), and then there is fear that the result of this technical study will be a “meager” amount, in case the beach operator has to vacate.
Furthermore, the criteria with which the concessions will be reassigned are being studied. Theoretically, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport – whose head is Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini – must produce a standard tender notice that will serve all municipal administrations; practically, we are still at the draft level. And also on compensation, the government has not issued a decree clarifying the methods and calculation criteria. From the previews released, the idea is to reward quality and the breadth of the offer in the tender. With attention to the environment, economic and social sustainability, the relationship with the territory regarding traditional tourism and the connection with hospitality and beds.
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These are good intentions that can mean a lot, but also nothing. In all this turmoil, there are entrepreneurs who are moving to be ready, with establishments able to extend the seasonal opening and offer new services to an increasingly difficult clientele less willing to spend. At least as far as the average Italian family is concerned, once the undisputed point of reference for beach tourism.
