The political conflict heats up on Italian beaches. For the senator Maurizio Gasparri, leader of Forza Italia in the Senate, we are faced with an activity of delegitimization of what the government has done. Complete with false news on the state of health of companies in the sector and on the prices of concessions.
“When making certain statements about seaside businesses, over which there has been a controversy that has lasted for years, we must also remember that concessions have undergone various increases over time, the latest of which was 25%” highlighted Gasparri.
The big deal hoax for small companies
“Given that the decision to intervene on the cost of concessions also often depends on local authorities, it must also be specified that the companies’ revenue is not net, because there are employees, salaries to be paid, taxes. It is fake news to say that these activities have individual revenues of 10 million” he added.
“The income of a business is also taxed and there are a number of charges to bear, employees, VAT, Imu, Irpef, etc, in addition to maintenance” he concluded. We are talking about the rest of approximately 33 thousand family businesses with a much lower average turnover of ten million per year.
The left returns to the attack
“We must prevent the government from privatizing free beaches which are already very scarce in many Italian regions in order to avoid tenders for state concessions” accused the Democratic Party member and former Minister of Labour, Andrea Orlando.
But for the executive the point is that Italian beaches are not a scarce resource in terms of the Bolkestein directive. From the mapping, carried out by a technical table established by the government, only 33% of the coast has been given under concession. With a similar share, according to the government, there is no issue of competition.
For the executive there is bad faith in the opposition
“On the issue of beach concessions we see a lot of bad faith on the part of those who persist in saying that there is a shortage of resources. It should be clarified, in fact, that from the mapping done in Italy there are still thousands of kilometers of coastline available to open new businesses” explained the secretary of the Chamber of Deputies and member of the Fratelli d’Italia in a note, Riccardo Zucconi.
“There is always too much confusion on the topic, ideologies are followed more than data; if we were to look at the topic objectively when we say that the sector produces billions in revenues we should also say that they pay the relevant taxes on those revenues” he added.
“In short, it is clear that the sector is among the most important for tourism in Italy, thanks also to the thousands of companies that have contributed for years to the growth of seaside tourism, producing undoubted excellence. Let us also remember that seaside businesses provide employment, services and are extremely dynamic in investments. In short, they produce wealth” she highlighted.
The government negotiates with the Union
According to Zucconi, clarity must therefore be made but above all “the ongoing discussion between Italy and Europe must continue in order to find useful solutions to protect existing companies and the entire sector”. Even despite the fact that the president of Confindustria, Carlo Bonomi, has distanced itself from Assobalneari. And from the position of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, who invited the government to respect its commitments with Europe regarding state concessions and street vendors.