Campi Flegrei: The Prosecutor's Office focuses on the risky slopes: investigations into phantom land.

Naples – The Neapolitan judiciary is turning the spotlight on the delays in securing the Phlegraean Fields, which have been shaken by recent and intense bradyseismic events. The Naples Public Prosecutor's Office has recently ordered a series of targeted document acquisitions to shed light on the fate of funds allocated, and apparently never spent, for the reinforcement of the rocky slopes of the Phlegraean Fields.

The investigative input stems from the need to understand the reasons for the bureaucratic and administrative delays that have effectively frozen the financial resources intended to prevent collapses and tragedies.

The exploratory dossier

At this stage, the investigation is proceeding strictly within the scope of fact-finding. A "Model 45" file has been opened at the Headquarters, a register of documents not constituting a crime. Therefore, there are no formal allegations of crime, nor, consequently, any names registered in the register of suspects.

The "Work and Professional Misconduct" section, led by Deputy Prosecutor Antonio Ricci, is coordinating the delicate documentary investigation. The team of magistrates is combing through the documents to reconstruct the financing process, attempting to identify the link in the institutional chain where the public spending mechanism for land protection has stalled.

The mayor of Bacoli raises the alarm

The Neapolitan prosecutors' initiative comes amidst a climate of intense local tension, marked by repeated, unheeded warnings from local governments. Bacoli's mayor, Josi Gerardo Della Ragione, has always been at the forefront of the issue of hydrogeological risk. He had repeatedly, in alarmed tones, reported the unjustifiable stalemate in the consolidation work on the Phlegraean Fields cliffs.

The mayor's complaints had focused in particular on the blocked funding for the cliffs overlooking the public beaches and beach resorts along the coast. Della Ragione had repeatedly urged the supra-municipal bodies to resolve the bureaucratic impasse, emphasizing the urgency of intervening before the seismic escalation worsened the already precarious stability of the yellow Phlegraean tuff.

The collapses of last summer

The urgency of the work, now under scrutiny by the Public Prosecutor's Office, is dramatically demonstrated by recent precedents. Just last year, in the midst of the 2025 summer season, several worrying rock falls were recorded along the shorelines frequented by swimmers.

Incidents that, by pure chance, did not turn into tragedy, but which did force the closure of entire stretches of coastline, sparking the anger of residents and tourism operators.

Today, with new tremors once again shaking the caldera, the lack of prevention has become a matter of judicial interest. The prosecutors' goal is to determine whether the omissions are the result of simple administrative red tape or whether there are specific responsibilities and negligence in the management of public affairs.