60 percent fewer bookings
Mosquito plague in Tuscany causes tourism to collapse
The port of Ortobello in Tuscany. The place has been plagued by a mosquito plague for weeks (archive image).
© Charles Bowman / Axiom Photographic / Picture Alliance
Tuscany is currently suffering from a severe mosquito plague. Hotel bookings have plummeted in the town of Orbetello. One of the reasons for the plague seems to be the ongoing heat wave.
Italy is still groaning under one of the strongest heatwaves of all time. But while groundwater levels continue to fall in parts of the country and rivers like the Po continue to dry up, other areas are grappling with completely different problems. In Tuscany, locals and tourists are currently suffering from an extreme mosquito plague. The Guardian reports.
Tuscany: Mosquito plague causes tourism to collapse
Thousands of blood-sucking insects are currently buzzing around the town of Ortobello. With devastating consequences for the population. Authorities in the Tuscan city have urged residents to close their windows and refrain from hanging out their laundry to combat the mosquito plague.
Ortobello is known for its lagoon and the long sandy beach overlooking Monte Argentario and is actually well visited. But now the restaurateurs and hoteliers are losing revenue. Several restaurant owners report that fewer and fewer guests would go out to eat in the evening to avoid being bitten. “We have to close two hours earlier,” the owner of Caffè sul Corso di Luigi Drogo told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
Some restaurants would switch off their lights in the evening, and reservations would only be accepted until 9 p.m. However, this did little. However, many guests stayed away from the restaurants.
“Sales have fallen by 60% despite these measures,” said Marco Di Pietro, owner of the Ovosodo restaurant, describing the “psychological horror” that mosquitoes cause to diners outdoors. “Thousands of mosquitoes buzz around the lightbulbs and move between the outdoor tables like a disturbing wave,” he told the Corriere.
Biologist: Mosquito plague is linked to ongoing heat wave
The newspaper “La Repubblica” quoted a tourist from Rome as saying that Orbetello was “completely overrun” by the insects. “For almost a month it has been impossible to walk along the lagoon. Now it has even become impossible to eat outside or have an aperitif. The situation has gotten so bad that many shops and restaurants have to close around 9 p.m.
Biologist Mauro Lenzi explained last month that the infestation is linked to the lagoon’s high temperature conditions, which have reduced the presence of mosquitoes’ natural predators, such as frogs, bats and various birds.
Authorities announced they would conduct pest control operations Wednesday night, the fourth time the city has been fumigated in several weeks.
However, residents complained that a thorough pest control, which usually takes place in the spring, was missed this year.
They’re not the only ones being stalked by insects this summer – nearby Castiglione della Pescaia was recently invaded by swarms of wasps, the Corriere reported.
Leonardo Marras, a municipal councilor in Tuscany, said: “Today it is difficult to find a solution to a problem that should have been solved earlier. What I can say is that we are here for all citizens who are concerned or whose season has been ruined by these insects”.
Sources: The Guardians, Corriere della Sera, Notícias ao Minute