Naples – A wave of civic spirit and love for the territory has overwhelmed the beach of San Giovanni a Teduccio, in East Naples.
Over two hundred volunteers rolled up their sleeves this morning, collecting almost 15 quintals of rubbish from the beach, in an initiative that marks the first step towards the redevelopment of a historic area of the city.
The event, entitled “San Giovanni da aMare”, is part of the “Giugno Giovani 2025” calendar of the Municipality of Naples and will culminate tomorrow with the evocative procession of the saint who will re-emerge from the waters.
The impressive cleanup operation, coordinated by the nascent Delegation of the Naval League of San Giovanni a Teduccio and the “Scugnizzi a vela”, saw the enthusiastic participation of citizens, young people and numerous associations.
Armed with gloves, buckets and rakes, the volunteers transformed the beach, which had been waiting for a cleanup for a long time, into a symbol of hope and collective commitment. The waste collected was promptly entrusted to Asìa vehicles, headed towards the ecological islands.
A collective commitment for the rebirth of the territory
“We are taking care of this beach with the Municipality, with the ABC, with the SAPNA and a series of local associations that have joined, with the desire to make it even more beautiful,” declared Stefano Lanfranco, president of the nascent San Giovanni delegation of the Italian Naval League.
The initiative, called “Cleaning of the Industria beach and adjacent seabed”, saw the collaboration of crucial bodies and organizations such as ABC, SAPNA, Marevivo, Civil Protection of Sant'Erasmo, Plastic Free, Aics, and the underwater units of the Carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza, as well as ethical entrepreneurs such as Mulino Caputo.
Gaetano ManfrediThe Mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi, welcomed the event with enthusiasm: “San Giovanni da aMare is a moment of great involvement for the entire community of eastern Naples. There is a very strong social, environmental and educational value in the sense of respect for one's own neighborhood and one's own beach”.
The Mayor underlined the importance of this initiative, now in its twenty-second edition, as “a tradition and a moment of religious participation with the parade of the statue of the Patron Saint, but not only that”. He also reiterated the importance of the sea as “an essential element for the rebirth of our territories, from the eastern area to Bagnoli”.
Chiara Marciani, Councilor for Youth Policies and Labor for the City of Naples, also expressed satisfaction: “Seeing the kids involved in cleaning a beach returned to the city is a sign of possible change, which starts with the young people and their love for Naples.”
Also present at the event was the Campania Regional Councilor, Roberta Gaeta, who highlighted "the collective commitment that wants to return to the city a great heritage that in this area has enormous potential". Luigi Carbone, City Councilor and delegate of the Metropolitan City, reiterated: "San Giovanni is the sea. This event recalls the union between the patron saint and this beauty. There is a need not only for a sewer connection infrastructure but also for human networks".
ABC – Acqua Bene Comune Napoli actively supported the initiative, making available personnel and areas of the San Giovanni pumping plant and donating steel water bottles to volunteers to promote the plastic-free. Andrea Torino, Extraordinary Commissioner of ABC, stated: “We want to demonstrate our closeness to the territory by contributing, with the commitment of our workers and with significant investments, to restore this area to its ancient splendor”.
SAPNA, the public company of the Metropolitan City of Naples, expressed its full support. “We strongly believe that the protection of the environment and the promotion of our cultural identity, so strongly linked to the sea, go hand in hand,” said sole director Renato Penza.
The event ended with the blessing of the Coast Guard, represented by Commander Captain Fabio Bovio, and Admiral Maurizio Trogu, regional delegate of the Italian Naval League, who expressed a wish: "I dream of one day not participating in these events anymore because it means that there will be no more beaches to clean up and everything will be clean. The sea is a great resource, it is a heritage, a legacy and we must take care of it for future generations".
Tomorrow, the two-day celebration and commitment will conclude with a tribute to the Patron Saint: the statue of San Giovanni will be symbolically “cleaned” and brought back to the ground, to seal a weekend of rebirth and hope for East Naples.
