L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 4 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS S piaggia libera o s t a b i l i m e n - t o ? T h i s i s t h e eternal question o f I t a l y ' s s e a vacanzieri. Spiaggia libera, which means, literally, "free beach," is open to everyone, but has no services, besides an outdoor shower and pub- lic toilets. Stabilimenti, on the other hand, offer full ser- vices including deckchairs, t a b l e s , b e a c h u m b r e l l a s , c h a n g i n g r o o m s , t o i l e t s , cafès, and restaurants. Of course, all that comes to a p r i c e , w h i c h c a n c h a n g e depending on the time of the year, the location, and how far your chair is from the water. Stabilimenti balnerari are not only an essential part of o u r e c o n o m y a n d o f o u r tourist industry, but also an icon of our summers: rows and rows of deckchairs and beach umbrellas, each stabil- imento with different colors; q u e u e i n g a t t h e c a f é f o r a cornetto Algida (the quin- tessential beach ice cream in Italy!), lunch with mozzarel- l a e p o m o d o r o a n d p r o - sciutto e melone... every Ital- ian has memories of that. If it's true that stabilimenti as a popular phenomenon are a t h i n g o f t h e 1 9 5 0 s a n d 1960s, that is, of the years of t h e n a t i o n ' s e c o n o m i c b o o m , w h e n m o r e a n d more people could afford summer holidays by the sea, their history is much longer than that. According to Massimo Manzo, who wrote an arti- cle on the subject for Focus Storia, the first stabilimen- t o o p e n e d i n V i a r e g g i o (Tuscany) in 1827. It was called, quite simply, Stabil- i m e n t o d e ' B a g n i , a n d had been created to allow paying customers to enjoy the sea in relax and, espe- cially, while maintaining their privacy: there, people could get changed into their bathing suits and frolic in t h e w a t e r a w a y f r o m t h e eyes of the curious. A year later, there were already other stabilimenti in town: the Stabilimento B a l n e r a r e F e m m i n i l e D o r i , f o r i n s t a n c e , a n d n e a r b y , t h e B a g n o Maschile Nereo, because of course, men and women w o u l d b a t h e s e p a r a t e l y , back then. There, we could see ladies of all ages sport- ing the trendiest swimsuits of the time: incredibly mod- est and made in wool, a fab- ric that wouldn't cling to the body when wet. But if you think that the first stabilimenti were creat- ed only and exclusively for leisure, you're on the wrong path… of course, taking a dip in the sea had always been customary along the coast, but there was a very specific rationale behind the creation of dedicated struc- tures, a rationale that went beyond the need for people to change into their swim- ming suits in privacy: in the 19th century, medicine had been growing aware, espe- c i a l l y t h a n k s t o B r i t i s h research, of the many ben- e f i t s s e a a i r a n d w a t e r could have on the body, so the idea was to recreate by the sea a model that had been very successful across t h e w o r l d s i n c e R o m a n t i m e s , t h a t o f s p a s a n d baths. In other words, the earliest stabilimenti were conceived like terme. Indeed, approval for the construction of the above- mentioned Bagni Dori and Bagni Nereo was obtained leveraging on this very rea- son. That summer - it was 1828 - was a true success for Tuscany's newly born stabil- imenti, with over 1,000 peo- ple using them. S o m e y e a r s l a t e r , t h e trend caught up in the rest of Italy. Rimini, probably the Italian capital of beach vacations, followed suit in 1843, with its Stabilimen- to Privilegiato dei Bagni Marittimi, which inspired many other similar struc- t u r e s a l o n g t h e R i v i e r a Romagnola. Just three years later, it was Livorno's turn, then the Lido di Venezia's in 1857, followed by many t o w n s a l o n g t h e I t a l i a n Continued to page 6 Sea vacations… Italian style: a brief history of the iconic "stabilimento balneare" Red beach umbrellas and a blue sky: nothing says Italian summer more than this! (Photo: Corradobarattaphotos/Dreamstime) FRANCESCA BEZZONE

• Cover