Amalfi, summer at risk: all beach resorts seized

Amalfi's summer is at risk following the precautionary seizures ordered by the Salerno Public Prosecutor's Office of the four beach resorts on Amalfi's main beach. Just over 900 square meters of beach must be vacated within a week, according to the preliminary investigations judge (GIP), who granted the Public Prosecutor's request "to adopt a precautionary seizure decree" and issued a provision for "all the structures of the beach resorts named Stella Maris, Mar di Cobalto, Marina Grande, and Silver Moon." The decrees were notified yesterday morning by the Guardia di Finanza and the Coast Guard. These measures are worrying beach resort managers and beachgoers, as they jeopardize the peak summer season and the seaside economy. The seizures follow the rulings of the Regional Administrative Court (TAR), which rejected all the arguments of the plaintiffs seeking the annulment of the demolition and restoration orders issued at the end of June by the Municipality of Amalfi. According to the judges, the concessions were violated because the structures were maintained beyond their expiration date. "This situation of unlawful construction," the order states, "correctly not contested by the prosecutor because it concerns works that were certainly already fully completed by April 27, 2007, raises the issue of unauthorized occupation of state-owned land for the entirety of the structures. These structures, due to their characteristics, are permanently anchored to the ground and difficult to remove, contrary to the provisions of the building and state property permits, which required their removal at the end of each bathing season. The unauthorized occupation of public property," the order continues, "appears to exist, in this specific case, also as a result of the expiration of the validity of the concessions themselves, and this despite the extension to December 31, 2020 of the expiration deadline for concessions for maritime state-owned property for tourism and recreational purposes, provided for by Law No. 221/2012."