Latest news with #JosiGerardoDellaRagione
Boston Globe
22-03-2025
- Boston Globe
Park or personal paradise? A rare private island comes onto the Italian market.
That is one version of the island's future. The other comes from Bacoli Mayor Josi Gerardo Della Ragione, who envisions the island as a public park. In private hands for decades and barely visited, the island's unspoiled flora would draw residents and visitors alike to a lesser-known part of Italy's coastline, according to the mayor. 'It is like Neverland,' he said in an interview in his office, evoking Peter Pan's fictional island. 'It is a place you can go just to daydream,' he added. 'Bacoli is small, but it can still be chaotic.' Advertisement The sale has become something of a populist struggle, pitting the quest for a deep-pocketed buyer against a more communal alternative. The main hindrance to the mayor's plan is the price tag, which Sotheby's put at around 10 million euros (roughly $10.3 million.) Since the island was valued at roughly 2 million euros just a few years ago, the price is 'robber baron speculation,' said Della Ragione, a 37-year-old former journalist who has served as mayor for seven years overall, representing Free Bacoli, a homegrown leftist party that sprouted from a blog founded by civic activists. Asked about the listing price, Sotheby's pointed to the one-of-a-kind nature of the property. The last boom in luxury real estate around here occurred about 2,000 years ago, when the northern coast of the Gulf of Naples was a playground for the Roman Empire's aristocracy. 'It was the Monte Carlo of its time,' Della Ragione said. Extensive thermal baths were part of the draw. Even the occasional emperor came swanning through. The entire region is part of the Campi Flegrei, or the Phlegraean Fields, a vast area of volcanic activity that includes nearby Mount Vesuvius. The land has risen and fallen over the centuries -- a seismic process known as bradyseism. Advertisement The vibrant mosaic floors of former palatial, beachfront Roman villas now sit on the seabed 4 or 5 yards under crystalline blue and peridot waters, visible to scuba divers and snorkelers. Small temblors occur regularly. The harbor adjacent to Punta Pennata island once served as the home port for the Roman naval fleet that dominated the western Mediterranean, records indicate. Some of its galleys rescued survivors fleeing Pompeii after Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79. Ciro Amoroso, an amateur historian, embraces the idea of a park on Punta Pennata. 'It is our history, our heritage,' he said. 'It is part of who we are, so we don't want it sold.' There is at least one possible out. Italian law grants any municipality the right to match the asking price for a property with historical significance. Although the mayor is willing to spend his budget for cultural activity on the purchase and expects some help from the regional government, the potential sum does not approach the asking price, he said. Instead, he hopes to mobilize certain allies, starting with the dead. City records indicate that between 1830 and 1860, about 1,000 people, many of them plague victims, were buried on the island. The location of the graves remains a mystery, but since a cemetery is public property, the mayor wonders whether the island was privatized using some manner of illegal bureaucratic shenanigans. The sale involves 5,000 square meters of land (about 54,000 square feet), including a decaying 200-square-meter house. The house is distinct from the ruins of the old Roman villa, though it, too, is being reclaimed by the surrounding woods. It was last used 10 or 12 years ago by the grandfather of the family selling the land, and he habitually sat there to watch migratory birds, said Diletta Giorgolo, head of residential sales for Sotheby's International in Italy. Advertisement The island falls under the general purview of the area's parks authority, so any owner would need a permit for landscaping like felling trees, said Francesco Maisto, president of the Regional Park of Campi Flegrei. That mandate extends to the surrounding water, a protected area because of its rare Posidonia sea grass. 'Even if you buy the island, you cannot just come and do what you want on it,' Maisto said. 'It is a green lung in the area.' Giorgolo portrays the raft of restrictions as a selling point, preserving the bucolic yet historic character of the island. It also means that all any new owner could most likely do is to renovate the house. Even that is subject to dispute. Since the original building permit allowed for a 120-square-meter structure, the mayor said, the additional 80 square meters are suspect. The various bureaucratic hurdles might deter any buyer, Della Ragione said, laughing. Among the hurdles: The sale and any construction requires his permission. Giorgolo holds that someone hoping to create a retreat will not be deterred. 'It will be a certain kind of buyer,' she said. 'It's for people that are maybe rich but also simple.' Viewings will begin when the weather improves. It has not even been shown to the mayor. The family that owns the island declined interview requests, with Giorgolo describing the owner as 'shy,' and the mayor saying that the Neapolitan family found all the public attention annoying. Advertisement Not that it takes much to reach Punta Pennata. It was once a peninsula, not an island, until a raging storm in 1966 swept away the sand beach linking it to the mainland. That side is now a popular beach, and you can wade out a few yards to the island's only landing, a small concrete jetty. From there, a tall, rusty fence blocks access. Throughout Italy, the state owns the shoreline. In theory, the public could cavort along the edges of the ridgelike island, but there is no beach, only steep cliffs and occasional rocky outcroppings. Some Bacoli residents doubt the wisdom of the city acquiring the island. Antonio Pugliese, 50, who promotes the use of traditional sailing vessels, thinks an island park would be too expensive to maintain. But most people questioned at random around the town supported the idea. Inside the cavelike Scairdac deli, with cheeses and hams curing in the rafters, Giuseppe Scamardella offers visitors an array of local delicacies: First pane sciocco, bread baked with potatoes and mozzarella, and friarielli , a local green that is a more bitter version of broccoli. Scamardella, 67, is one of the few people in Bacoli who remember being on Punta Pennata. As a boy, he gathered mushrooms and wild asparagus while his father hunted quail and rabbits. He has not been on the island since the 1966 storm that turned the peninsula into an island. Bacoli has to do something to compete for visitors, otherwise all the young people will leave, he said, even if his daughter is the fifth generation to run the family store. Advertisement 'If somebody private buys the island, it will be a terrible thing,' Scamardella said. 'We will lose a little of Bacoli's soul.' This article originally appeared in
New York Times
22-03-2025
- New York Times
Private Island Comes on the Market in Italy
Private Mediterranean islands are rather rare, but Punta Pennata, a sliver of land in the Gulf of Naples with the crumbling walls of an old Roman villa tucked amid its overgrown flora, has been on the market for several months. Located about 20 miles from downtown Naples, the narrow island with its abrupt cliffs sits like an exclamation point just off the seaside town of Bacoli. 'Surrounded by lush Mediterranean vegetation and Roman relics, it offers a fascinating and unique retreat,' reads the promotional blurb from Sotheby's International Realty. Punta Pennata, it adds, is an 'exclusive opportunity for a prestigious investment.' That is one version of the island's future. The other comes from Josi Gerardo Della Ragione, the mayor of Bacoli, who envisions the island as a public park. In private hands for decades and barely visited, its unspoiled flora would draw residents and visitors alike to a lesser known part of Italy's coastline, according to the mayor. 'It is like Neverland,' he said in an interview in his office, evoking Peter Pan's fictional island. 'It is a place you can go just to daydream,' he added. 'Bacoli is small, but it can still be chaotic.' Image Josi Gerardo Della Ragione, the mayor of Bacoli, envisions the island as a public park. Credit... Gianni Cipriano for The New York Times The map locates the island of Punta Pennata, near the town of Bacoli, west of Naples, Italy. PhlegraeAn Fields (CAMPI FLEGREI) By The New York Times Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Euronews
13-03-2025
- Climate
- Euronews
Russia won't accept ceasefire easily, says expert
At least eleven people were sent to the hospital after a 4.4-magnitude earthquake struck Naples overnight. One woman was injured after part of a ceiling fell. Italian seismologists said the earthquake struck at a depth of 2 kilometres from Pozzuoli at around 1:25 am CET. The quake was the strongest recorded around the volcanic area of the Phlegraean Fields. It matched the intensity of another quake that hit the same area last May. Naples sits just 9 kilometres from Mount Vesuvius, an active volcano, which encompasses the Phlegraean Fields. In recent weeks, seismologists have reported increased activity in the area. Last summer, local authorities carried out drills in preparation for a potential major emergency. Damage was reported to buildings in Naples' Bagnoli district, where a ceiling collapsed and several cars were damaged from falling rubble. The district's Mayor Josi Gerardo Della Ragione wrote on Facebook that it had been a "rough night". "But we won't give up a millimetre," he added. The tremors also caused damage to the bell tower of a nearby church as residents slept in their cars. The first tremor was followed by a swarm of six minor tremors with a magnitude of up to 1.2 on the Richter scale. On Thursday morning, Italy's primary train operator reported delays on several lines due to technical checks as power cuts were reported across Naples. A rescue coordination centre has been set up to assist people impacted by the quake. Schools in the Bagnoli district were also closed on Thursday to facilitate building stability checks. According to Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), the earthquake was triggered by the accelerating ground uplift in the area. "Recently, the rate of uplift has tripled, from 1 to 3 cm per month," said Francesca Bianco, director of INGV's volcanoes department. Ukraine has accepted the offer of a 30-day ceasefire, and all eyes are now on Russia to see how they react, but the Kremlin will want to see the details of the ceasefire and will have plenty of qualifications, post-Soviet political expert Donnacha Ó Beacháin tells Radio Schuman today. The Professor of Politics at the School of Law and Government, Dublin City University cannot see the Russians accepting 'anything that doesn't legitimise their land grab and ethnic cleansing' in Ukraine. Reacting to the talks this week in Saudi Arabia between the Ukrainians and the Trump administration, Ó Beacháin said the fundamentals have not changed. "You got the feeling that Ukraine is kind of like an inconvenience that has to be disposed of before getting back to some kind of normal business relationship", he said. The Irish professor, who has just written a new book entitled 'Unfinished Empire, Russian Imperialism in Ukraine and the Near Abroad", is very critical of the EU for abandoning Ukraine. "The invasion of Ukraine, as Ukrainians always point out, didn't start in 2022. It started in 2014. Europe had a decade to prepare, but it didn't. Instead, it was building Nord Stream and consolidating relations with Russia", he said. Today Radio Schuman also features the EU South Africa summit and the increasing trend for VAT fraud across Europe. Radio Schuman was hosted by Méabh Mc Mahon, with audio editing by Johan Breton. Music by Alexandre Jas. US president Donald Trump added Ireland to the list of countries he says are taking advantage of his own as he welcomed Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin to the White House. Trump has been sparring with US allies and adversaries alike over trade, slapping tariffs on imports from countries from Canada to China and beyond and creating major diplomatic rifts in the process. During an appearance with Martin in front of reporters, Trump repeated his claim that the European Union was created to take advantage of the US. Asked if Ireland was also taking advantage, Trump replied, 'of course they are". "I have great respect for Ireland and what they did and they should have done just what they did, but the United States shouldn't have let it happen," he complained. Trump specifically referred to the concentration of US pharmaceutical companies in Ireland, a longstanding situation grounded in the country's notoriously lenient corporation tax laws. 'We had stupid leaders. We had leaders that didn't have a clue, or let's say they weren't businesspeople, but they didn't have a clue what was happening and all of a sudden Ireland has our pharmaceutical companies," Trump said. Martin countered Trump's allegations by insisting that the two countries' trade relationship is 'a two-way street', adding that Ireland's two major airlines buy more aircraft from Boeing than any other foreign customer and that hundreds of Irish companies were based in America, creating thousands of jobs. 'That's a little-known fact that doesn't turn up in the statistics,' he added. 'I understand where you're coming from, fully. But I think it's a relationship that we can develop and that will endure into the future.'
Euronews
13-03-2025
- Climate
- Euronews
Naples struck by 4.4 magnitude earthquake overnight
By Euronews This article was originally published in Italian One woman was injured in the Italian city of Naples after an earthquake shook buildings and disrupted power supplies. ADVERTISEMENT A 4.4 magnitude earthquake struck Naples overnight, injuring one woman in the nearby town of Pozzuoli. One woman was rescued by the fire brigade with non-serious injuries. Italian seismologists said the earthquake struck at a depth of two kilometres off the city of Pozzuoli at around 01.25 am CET. Damage was reported to buildings in the city's Bagnoli district, where a ceiling collapsed and several cars were damaged from falling rubble. The district's mayor Josi Gerardo Della Ragione wrote on Facebook that it had been a, "rough night. But we won't give up a millimetre." The tremors also caused damage to the bell tower of a nearby church, as residents of slept in their cars. The first tremor was followed by a swarm of six minor minor tremors with a magnitude of up to 1.2. On Thursday morning, Italy's primary train operator reported delays on several train lines due to technical checks, as power cuts were reported across Naples. A rescue co-ordination centre has been set up in order to assist people who were impacted by the quake. Schools in the Bagnoli districts were also closed on Thursday in order to facilitate building stability checks.
Local Italy
13-03-2025
- Climate
- Local Italy
Naples and Campi Flegrei rocked by strong 4.4-magnitude quake
The quake hit at 1.25am and had its epicentre on the coastline east of Pozzuoli, at a depth of 2.5 kilometres, according to Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV). It was followed by a series of smaller tremors in what experts described as a "seismic swarm". Italy's Civil Protection Agency said on social media platform X that 'initial checks' carried out by officers on the ground reported 'minor damage' to local infrastructure and 'one injured person' following the collapse of a suspended ceiling. Italian news agency Ansa identified the injured person as a woman living in Bagnoli, a seaside district west of Naples. Ansa said the woman 'sustained some abrasions' and was immediately assisted by fire service officers. Dozens of people in Naples spent the night on the streets or in their cars after the earthquake shook the city. Italy's Civil Protection Agency reportedly responded to hundreds of calls from residents in the hours following the quake. Schools in the towns of Pozzuoli, Bacoli and Bagnoli were set to remain closed on Thursday as a precautionary measure, local authorities said. Bacoli Mayor Josi Gerardo Della Ragione urged residents to "remain calm" and contact local authorities for all the latest updates. The quake on Thursday came a little over a month after the same area was struck by two 3.9-magnitude quakes within hours of each other in early February. The Campi Flegrei is a volcanic caldera – a large, basin-like depression that forms when a volcano collapses into itself, usually following a major eruption. The volcano last erupted in 1538. The region, which is home to around half a million people, has experienced intense seismic activity over the past two years due to a phenomenon known as 'bradyseism' – the slow, vertical movement of the Earth's surface due to changes in the volume of magma and hot gases. It was hit by a 4.2-magnitude quake – the strongest in four decades – in September 2023. This was followed by a 4.0-magnitude quake in early October 2023. There were no reports of injuries in both cases.
