They call them panoramic rooms in the mountains and according to the promoters, in this case the Veneto region, which is preparing to make them law tomorrow evening, are the new frontier of high-altitude tourism between slowness, sustainability and environmental protection. But for the detractors – the minority of the North East Region Council but also the Italian Alpine Club and in general the environmentalist associations, would be, at best, a work that naturally goes against the philosophy that should be at the origin of the way of experiencing the mountains, at worst a Trojan horse that would open the doors to new and even more serious forms of derogation from the laws that prevent building on high ground.
The proposal dates back to the beginning of last year. The “panoramic rooms”, some of which have already been installed on an experimental basis in the mountains of the region, were defined as “rooms made of glass and wood or other materials, even innovative, eco-sustainable or in any case of low impact, placed permanently on the ground, characterized by a high ratio between window surface and floor surface”. They can be installed permanently above 1,600 meters above sea levelby way of derogation, in order to allow the tourist “to observe in a particularly broad way both the surrounding landscape and the movement of the stars in the sky”.
Two for each mountain municipality: here’s where they can be born
In Veneto there could be up to 172. The rule sets a roof of 2 rooms for each mountain municipality, and these are 86 in total: 56 in the province of Belluno, 18 in Vicenza, nine in Verona and three in Treviso. The decision should arrive tomorrow, when the Regional Council will discuss the law that must establish them.
Lake Federa-Croda del Lago, heights of Cortina d’Ampezzo
Il Pd had defined them as “hotels at altitude”, the Region said that this is not the case at all. What is certain is that the structures were designed to accommodate up to 8 beds each, which later dropped to two. The Cai he in turn said he was far from enthusiastic about the idea, like the Greens. At the end of last October, the Council of local self-government from Veneto gave his approval with only one abstention.
Until the end, however, the opposition tried to stop the novelty. Within five days of its launch, the online petition against panoramic rooms had surpassed 1,000 signatures. “I will present myself to the council with the signatures collected and I will reiterate that this law and that of off-road vehicles in the high mountains must not be approved. The mountains must be safeguarded and not exploited by authorizing exceptions to the laws that protect them”, he states Andrea Zanoni, regional councilor of the Democratic Party. The region continues the dem councilor, “wants to approve these measures which will damage our mountains and the environment. Panoramic hotels can be built above the limit of 1,600 meters in derogation of the regulations in force”. “To allow citizens to make their voices heard and declare their opposition to the laws against the mountains – explains the representative of the Democratic Party – last Wednesday afternoon I launched an online signature collection which quickly exceeded 1,000 signatures. Even many Venetians do not agree with these regional laws.”
A “bite and selfie” tourism
“Treating our mountains as if they were museums for the elite or safaris is a temptation that this regional council is taking to new heights, he declared Cristina Guarda, regional councilor of Green Europe on the eve of the discussion. A proposal, she says, which “risks generating a vulnus for the mountain heritage of our region, because it reduces our peaks to places of turismo luxury, accessible for a selfie or an aperitif at high altitude. The consequences of this philosophy, according to which everything can be transformed into tourism, does not honor the natural and historical heritage that our hills give us”. On this provision, he recalls, “there was no shortage of critical opinions during the hearings phase in commission. Our mountains – underlines Guarda – deserve something more than glass and wooden boxes. Believing that the sustainability of these showcases in the void is simply given by the material with which they will be built unmasks, for the umpteenth time, the simplistic vision of the Zaia council on environmental issues. Strengthening the public transport service in our mountains, for example, is absolutely not part of the political agenda of Veneto; what matters is just seeing more tourists arrive, perhaps by car.”
Monte Pelmo seen from Monte Punta, Val di Zoldo (Andreas Strau)
The pro-hunters law and precedents in other regions
Then there is another regional law that opponents would like to stop. This is a bill, also from the first quarter of 2003, which would like to allow hunters’ off-road vehicles free access to the “silvo-pastoral roads”, in other words to the paths and treks normally accessible only to owners, or to those carries out emergency interventions and works. A free all potentially usable by around 28 thousand Venetians, many only holders of hunting licenses. “Permits, these, which in the high mountains will even be free – explains Zanoni, who promises to also collect signatures against this law, “regardless of tomorrow’s vote”.
Coincidence: a few weeks ago the Umbria region – centre-right – has just passed a law which authorizes the transit of off-road vehicles and motorbikes on any dirt road where there is no contrary indication. While the Liguria – ditto – in the framework of its new consolidated law on hotels, B&Bs and in general room rentals and holiday homes, it has authorized hotel and non-hotel facilities to equip “a limited number of areas and pitches” as glamping, or glamor -camping: in other words, the same type of eco-monster with a gentle face, the ideal basis for a certain bite-and-selfie tourism, which one seems to glimpse in the panoramic rooms of the Venetian Dolomites.