«Ten meters of beach less»- Corriere.it

At Bagno Gino 59-60 in Bellaria, Paolo Rinaldini, 54, waits for the bulldozer to arrive to redo the beach level. He hasn’t moved from his establishment for days. The storm that hit the entire Romagna Riviera is yet another that he has to face. Last summer, Bagno Gino closed the season early due to bad weather. And now the storm continues to do damage. He lists: «It has devastated everything: wooden tables, poles, walkways, gazebos. All 15 of our cabins are filled with mud and wood. We’ll have to repaint them because the sea foam is dirty. Now it’s a race against time.” At Bagno Gino, he assures him, at least “two mountains of debris” have been piled up.

Two mountains?
«Yes, I’m talking about mountains because the waste was the equivalent of two trucks. In the port area, on the other hand, there is a real forest: in some parts you can’t even see the sand, it’s hidden under the wood».

Big tree trunks come down from the river.
«Logs, plants, bamboo canes. Practically all the cleaning that is not done emerges and then we keep the beaches clean ».

How much is the damage?
«If we refer to the collective one, and therefore to the “eaten” sand, here there will be 10 meters of beach missing. It means fewer rows of umbrellas and therefore fewer tourists in the summer. And then there is the problem of the dune».

Meaning what?
«We have a dune parallel to all the cabins, when there is a storm the sea carries it away. But we need that sand: we spread it out and then put up tables, umbrellas, sunbeds».

How many are the losses?
«It would be hard to tell you now, I’m waiting for the end of the season to do the accounts. But we are tied to the weather and storms have an effect».

The beaches in Bellaria are also small.
«These natural disasters are so strong and frequent that nourishment works are no longer enough. Until now they were done once every ten years. More than funding, I would ask the institutions for more attention to these activities. The lifeguards need more interventions on the coast to lengthen the beaches ».

What worries you the most now?
«On May 27 we should restart the season and we are behind with the works. We had everything fixed, now we have to start over. We are not discouraged, but every time there is a storm we are on our knees. My legs are shaking just reading the warning. Now I feel resignation».

Why?
«We are used to working in storm surges, they don’t scare us, but we can’t do anything about it anymore. We have to wait. And the sea does not stop».