Here is the most beautiful sea according to the Legambiente and Touring Club Italiano guide: Pollica and the Ancient Cilento at the top of the ranking

The most beautiful places in Italy overlook the Tyrrhenian Sea. The guide says so Legambiente and Touring Club Italiano, The most beautiful sea 2019, which this year awards the 5 sails recognition to seven tourist areas bathed by those waters. At the top of the ranking is the Cilento Antico led by Pollica (Sa), the pearl of Cilento and the leading municipality among those of the Campania region. Following the coast of Maremma Toscana driven by Castiglione della Pescaia (Gr), then the Barony of Posada (Nu) andTepilora Park, Chia Coast   Domus De Maria (South Sardinia), Baunei (No) Upper Ionian Salento driven by Nardò(L), planargia   Bosa (Gold), Silver Coast andGiglio Island (Gr),  Cinque Terre guided by Vernazza (Sp) Pantelleria Island (TP), Gallura Coast and the marine protected area of ​​Capo Testa Punta Falcone driven by Saint Teresa of Gallura (SS), Costa del Mito and the marine protected area of ​​the Infreschi and Masseta coasts driven by San Giovanni a Piro (Sa) Upper Adriatic Salento driven by Melendugno (L), the coast of Agrarian park of the centuries-old olive trees driven by Polignano a Mare (Ba), North Trapani Coast driven by San Vito Lo Capo (TP) and the island of Ustica (PA). And in the guide enters a new symbol: that of the “plastic free” municipalities.

The guide to the “best of the Italian sea and lakes” – where to spend an environmentally friendly holiday, in the name of nature and clean water but also of excellent food and wine and places of art – was presented this morning in Rome at Villa Celimontana as part of the final workshop of the MedSeaLitter project. The event – ​​which ended with the award ceremony of the mayors of the tourist areas that have won the “5 sails” this year and was coordinated by the sea and tourism manager of Legambiente, Sebastian Venneri – among others, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of the Environment and Protection of Land and Sea spoke Salvatore Micillo, Stephen Ciafani, national president of Legambiente and Frank Iseppi, president of the Touring Club Italiano. “This year too we are telling the story of how much good the local coastal administrations do along our peninsula – said Sebastiano Venneri, head of Sea and Tourism Legambiente -. The world of the sea, in fact, finds itself having to provide answers that are up to the challenges imposed by the global environmental crisis and has put together a wide range of proposals and initiatives: local authorities, private entrepreneurs, associations and regions have committed to proposing advanced solutions for an environmentally friendly holiday. Many concrete practices on which, we are more convinced than ever, we can begin to change the fate of the planet”. “The guide, the result of the historic collaboration between the Italian Touring Club and Legambiente, is a journey along the 7500 kilometers of Italian coasts that stimulates our desire to travel and vacation, but it is also, or rather above all, a rigorous examination of the state of health of our seas – said Franco Iseppi, President of the Italian Touring Club -. The rigorous selection proposed by the guide represents our mission well: to enhance the landscape, the artistic and cultural heritage and the productive economies of the territories. The result is not a ranking, but a geographical mapping that photographs the extraordinary riches of our seas and lakes and highlights the good environmental, administrative and tourist practices that contribute to preserving them and making them known. A contribution, we hope, to the active and green soul that is increasingly gaining space in our society. The theme of the coasts offers a great opportunity for tourism development, where a virtuous relationship between coasts and hinterland can be found, because it is the ideal condition for sustainable development of the entire territory and for a tourism practice that is experiential, personal and sustainable”.There are 97 tourist areas in total identified on the basis of data collected by Legambiente on environmental characteristics and the quality of hospitality. The data were integrated with the evaluations expressed by the local Clubs and the crew of the Goletta Verde. The rating given to each district, from the 5 sails assigned to the best down to 1 sail, is the result of in-depth evaluations. The parameters are divided into two main categories: environmental quality and quality of accommodation services. Thus, there will be areas that are more significant from a naturalistic point of view than those awarded with the 5 sails, but with less than excellent tourist services. Other districts can count on locations with impeccable accommodation facilities in areas where, however, the sea and coasts have been more compromised.

Ski areas at Five sails

La Sardinia It is the most awarded region with 5 ski areas 5 sails: from the lands of the Barony of Posada, just below Olbia, to the area, further north, which includes the Coastal Gallura; to the south the Five Sails instead fly on the coast of baunei and on that of Chia, the famous beach of the municipality of House of Mary. Five sails also on the north-western coast, along the coast of the planargia, which includes the Municipality of Bosa. Also important are the awards obtained by Sicily, Puglia, Campania and Tuscany. In the first case, the Cinque Vele holiday is guaranteed in three of the top-ranked areas: the North Coast of Trapani, the coasts of the island of Pantelleria, always in the province of Trapani, and those of the island of Ustica, in the province of Palermo. In Puglia it is possible to enjoy a holiday in Cinque Vele along the coast of Agrarian Park of the Centuries-Old Olive Trees, between the provinces of Bari and Brindisi and, a little further down, in theUpper Adriatic Salentoand in 'Upper Ionian Salento, both in the province of Lecce. The Campania places two top ski areas: the Ancient Cilento, this year's winner and the Coast of Myth both in the province of Salerno. Two Cinque Vele areas also for the Toscana, the municipalities of the Maremma Toscana and, a little further south, those of the Silver Coast and Giglio Island, all in the province of Grosseto, while in Liguria the Five Sails fly over the three Municipalities of Cinque Terre.

Four sails ski areas

Even the areas awarded with the Four sails can be considered places of great excellence, capable of combining a quality territory with good level management of services. The Four Sails fly in Sardinia in as many as 10 tourist areas: on the coast of Pula to the south of the island, in the Gulf of Angels, along the south-western coast and the Sulcis islands, on the Costa Verde, in the Gulf of Oristano, in the Gulf of Asinara, in the La Maddalena archipelago, in the Gulf of Olbia which includes the marine protected area of ​​Tavolara and again in the Gulf of Orosei and, a little further south, along the coast of Ogliastra. As regards the Toscana, the Four Sails go to the islet of Capraia, in the Tuscan Archipelago. Four Sails in Puglia on the southern side of Gargano, the Tremiti Islands and the Lower Adriatic Salento. In Sicilia to two archipelagos, the Egadi and the Pelagie, to the island of Salina and to the Gulf of Noto. The Four Sails also fly over the Gulf of Poets and along the Bay of Levante, in Liguria. In Lazio along the coasts of the Pontine Islands, the Riviera di Ulisse and the Maremma Laziale; on the municipalities of the Amalfi Coast and the Island of Capri and in the Sorrento Peninsula, inCampania, and then in Basilicata along the Maratea coast and on the Gelsomini coast, the southern Ionian stretch of the Calabria. Sailing up the Adriatic Sea Four sails have been awarded this year to the coast of the Cerrano Marine Protected Area in Abruzzoand to the Conero Riviera, in the Brands.

Lakes

The guide also dedicates a section to lakeside tourism locations. In this case it is the Trentino-Alto Adige the top regionin terms of number of areas among the top ranked, with three of the seven lakes having five sails: Lake Molveno, That of Fiè and Monticolo. Five sails for the lake too of the Accesain  Toscana, That of Avigliana Grandein  Piedmont, the lake of the Placed inVeneto , Western shore of Lake Garda. Among the actions implemented to improve la environmental sustainability, of our tourist locations, the Tremiti Islands were the first, a year ago, to adopt a measure to ban single-use plastic on their territory, followed by the plastic-free municipalities, starting with the municipalities present in the Legambiente and Touring Club Italiano Guide and awarded with the 5 Sails. But in recent months, there has also been the flag It contains for establishments that adopt criteria for their activities on the beach that respect any nesting sites of sea turtles. And the label Eco-beaches for everyone, the brand created by Legambiente and Village for All for establishments that have been able to implement sustainability and inclusive measures that allow access to the sea even to the less able. Finally, the decision of some Adriatic municipalities to ban cigarette smoking on their beaches and the initiative of the Puglia Region that bans single-use plastic on all its beaches. This year it enters the guide a new symbol: it is that of the “plastic free” municipalities, that is, they have adopted measures to reduce single-use plastic on their territory. There are 32 of them in the guide The most beautiful sea 2019These cutting-edge realities in the fight against plastic demonstrate how it is as urgent as it is possible to ban the use of plastic tableware, encouraging the use of reusable items in their territories and anticipating and anticipating the times foreseen by the European directive on single-use approved at the end of March. The presentation of the guide also saw the intervention of the artist from the Cinque Terre Margot Bertonati, who delivered his letter to Legambiente “scavenger fish”, with its belly torn open and loaded with plastic bottles, so that it can tour the Peninsula aboard the Goletta Verde, to raise awareness among citizens about the damage caused by plastic pollution in our seas and to underline the importance of every good practice. It is no coincidence that the presentation of The most beautiful sea 2019 and the award ceremony of the municipalities of the 5 sail districts closed the final workshop of MedSeaLitter, a project co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (Interreg Med) and led by the Cinque Terre National Park, to develop and validate within the Mediterranean basin a protocol for monitoring floating macro waste and ingested waste in the biota, also assessing the risk of exposure of marine species included in the European directives. The meeting was also the occasion to open the call for applications for this year's Angelo Vassallo Award, promoted by ANCI and Legambiente – together with Libera, Slowfood and Federparchi and the Municipality of Pollica – to reward each year the administrative entity that has best understood the moral and political legacy of the fisherman Mayor, barbarically killed in September 2010.