Naples, the crafty ones of the “wild table”

Naples. Hot water has finally been discovered. Since the pandemic period, when the phenomenon of "wild table" exploded, we have been asking the relevant offices to carry out a thorough investigation to verify the ways in which many public establishments have occupied the land in front.

Often in defiance of current laws and regulations, particularly in relation to compliance with art. 20 of the Highway Code which, in paragraph 3, prescribes.

” In inhabited centres, without prejudice to the limitations and prohibitions set out in the preceding articles and paragraphs, the occupation of pavements by kiosks, newsstands or other installations may be permitted up to a maximum of half their width, provided that they are adjacent to buildings and provided that an area for pedestrian circulation of no less than 2 m wide remains free.

However, occupations cannot fall within the visibility triangles of intersections, as per art. 18, paragraph 2. In areas of historical-environmental relevance, or when there are particular geometric characteristics of the road, occupation of sidewalks is permitted provided that an adequate area is guaranteed for the circulation of pedestrians and people with limited or impaired motor skills.

Instead, only in recent days, from the first investigations carried out by the municipal police, it has been discovered that some occupations of public land were carried out on the basis of false reports certified by professionals in which compliance with, among other things, the aforementioned law is attested.

Yet, throughout this period there have been many complaints and reports from numerous citizens on the serious problem, present along the streets of the Neapolitan capital, caused by the invasion of "wild tables", a phenomenon that has deprived Neapolitans, starting with people with walking problems but also mothers with strollers, of being able to easily and peacefully walk on the sidewalks, without having to do real slaloms.

Furthermore, in the face of repeated protests and complaints, which have repeatedly hit the headlines, following the lack of required checks by the competent offices of the Neapolitan municipal administration, an online petition was also launched with the title: "Naples: enough with "wild table"! We want our sidewalks back!", with over 600 signatures, addressed to the prefect and the mayor of Naples as well as to the municipal councilors for urban police and welfare, with the request for immediate and no longer postponable interventions to eradicate the phenomenon.

Petition which highlighted the fact that in the Neapolitan capital the sidewalks have largely lost the function for which they were built, as their etymology also recalls.

Between outdoor seating, gazebos, umbrellas, tables, chairs and various ornaments, which are added to potholes, piles of rubbish, bins and parked motorbikes, for pedestrians, especially for disabled people, walking on the sidewalks has become a titanic undertaking, sometimes even impossible.

Often, to overcome obstacles, one is forced to walk on the roadways, running imaginable risks. With the same petition, the competent authorities were asked to implement, in a short time, all the necessary measures, activating the consequent actions to free the sidewalks, with the elimination, in particular, of all those obstacles that prevent the normal and peaceful transit of pedestrians, in open contrast with the regulations in force in this regard.

At this point, following the latest events, we hope that the investigating magistrates will open an investigation, also aimed at ascertaining any delays with which the competent offices would have proceeded to verify the documentation presented for the occupation of public land with tables and chairs, which has allowed the phenomenon to spread like wildfire with consequent serious inconvenience to citizens.

We also hope that the investigations of the municipal police in this regard will be extended to the entire city, in particular to Vomero where the phenomenon of "wild table" has reached intolerable levels for the almost 48 thousand residents, resulting in still full expansion, also following the latest extension granted, for the occupation of public land even outside of authorized spaces, until the end of the current year.