Summer controversy: sailboats in La Maddalena pay half price. Perhaps.

One of the most magical places in the Mediterranean is undoubtedly the Maddalena Archipelago. precisely to preserve its beauty it is a protected area and in which you can stay by boat only for a fee. But motor boats and sailboats have a different level of pollution, and because of that, sails pay half as much. Or at least they should… Read below what one of our readers writes to us and, let us know what you think!

Dear Editor,
I arrive in Magdalena in these days in which I am writing to you, and I discover yet another antics on the part of the authorities in charge who establish senseless rules to the detriment of the unfortunate who have the only wrong in wanting to contribute to a tourism that has been suffering severely here for at least a couple of years now.
I anchor at Cala Coticcio in Caprera and am stopped by a park authority dinghy. Having not yet had a chance to regularize the permit I am rightly asked to pay the daily fee. Now first absurdity I am astonished to learn that as of this year, the 50% sailing boat discount cannot be applied by the dinghy inspectors and I pay 50 euros for one day for a 12 mt sailing boat.
The next day I intend to be prepared and log on to the park authority website to make the one-week permit. The total cost of the permit for the entire period is €50 versus €100 full fee, taking into account that sailboats enjoy a 50% discount. And here’s the second absurdity, the discount for sailboats is not applicable online but only upon viewing the boat’s sailing license by the collectors, who are located in the Maddalena’s affiliated ports.
I tried to contact the park authority and ask for an explanation and received this version: since in previous years many people took advantage of the discount for sailboats it was decided that this could only be applied upon verification by the document issuers, and that if I wanted I could still go ahead and purchase the permit online and pay the full fee.
Obviously my protests were to no avail but more importantly, third absurdity, I failed to explain to Ms. Dea who kindly answered my phone call that malpractice can also be exercised by those who have a 50 mt motor boat and make an online permit for a 10 mt boat. In fact, these behaviors should be sanctioned by those in charge of control rather than penalizing a category that precisely enjoys the discount because it has less polluting vehicles.
The result was that since I did not want to go to the port to make the permit, I proceeded online paying the full fee and leaving the park authority a total of €150 instead of €50. I hope that at least this will serve to improve the environment and services, which moreover remain decidedly lacking.
Antonio Musacchio

THIS IS THE TESTIMONY OF OUR READER. YOU, WHAT DO YOU THINK? WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU DURING THE SUMMER CRUISES? GOOD ADVENTURES OR MISADVENTURES, TELL US ABOUT THEM BY SENDING AN EMAIL TO
SPECIALI@PANAMAEDITORE.IT