After a sold out season, the city of La Spezia took to the streets against the giants of the sea, their emissions and the tourism model related to them. The Environment Other Tourism Network, formed by the Alessandro Pertini cultural circle, CittadinanzAttiva, Italia Nostra, Legambiente, No biodigestore Saliceti, Palmaria Yes Masterplan No! Posidonia and Vas Verdi Ambiente Società mobilized hundreds of people who this afternoon crossed part of the center, from Piazza Mentana to Largo Fiorillo, where the cruise terminal is located, to ask for a change of pace on the increasingly difficult relationship between ships and citizens.
“Nobody wants to say enough of this resource, but we do not accept the pollution it brings” the leitmotif of the speeches at the end of the march, banners and placards, supported by activists, opposition politicians – present, among others, the regional councilor dem Davide Natale, the minority leader in the city council Piera Sommovigo, the councilors Massimo Lombardi, Giorgia Lombardi, Viviana Cattani and the secretary of the provincial Democratic Party Iacopo Montefiori – and many residents. “Sommariva, Toti, Peracchini, put the ships in your gardens” marked the demonstrators, appealing to the president of the Adsp of the Eastern Ligurian Sea, to that of the Liguria Region and to the mayor of La Spezia, asking for more checks, data on timely atmospheric measurements (those of 2021 have not yet been disclosed by Arpal, the organizers denounced), denouncing the breach of the values relating to nitrogen dioxide, but above all concrete measures to ease this difficult coexistence, aggravated by the proximity of the port and the mooring piers to homes.
The case
La Spezia, the cruise ship war. Exposed in the Prosecutor’s Office of environmentalists: “Too many fumes”
di Chiara Tench
The measures undertaken by the Authority are considered insufficient, at least in terms of time, first of all the electrification of the docks planned by the beginning of 2025, financed with the complementary fund of the NRP. After the recent exposure in the prosecutor’s office and two opposition initiatives in the city council – an agenda and an interpellation – it is the square that picks up the baton of the no front, with the announcement of further mobilizations, starting from a meeting public and the request for a tourism master plan. Also present was a delegation from the aps Livorno Porto Pulito, who spoke with the president Luca Ribechini, who underlined the desire to join forces in a common protest with other cities, starting from the Labronica one to arrive in Marseille. Of note, a crime story denounced by environmentalists about the smoke of the Wonder of the Seas, a giant of the Royal Caribbean company that hosts up to 7,084 people between passengers and crew, moored in port. “We have chosen to protest today because this ship produces more emissions: the usual cloud accompanied it this morning, then nothing more in the afternoon. What happened? Does this mean that there is already the possibility to abate the fumes? ” To close, the estranged gazes of the tourists returning on board with the classic Bermuda uniform, backpack and hat, on the protesters in front of the cruise station: few things could have better told this fracture that does not recur.