The request is for at least two euros. If you leave less, they frown, if you're lucky. If you don't leave any, however, they become (verbally) aggressive, annoying, threatening. "Will you leave us an offering? It costs you less than the blue parking lots, for us you get through the day. We find the spaces and even look after the cars. Thanks to us, you can be sure that no one will touch it", is what people from Cagliari have been hearing for a few days now as they look for a parking space at Quarta Fermata in preparation for a day at the beach. It happens especially in the afternoon, especially on weekends (but not only), when the area behind the Vergine della Salute parish is a jumble of cars left parked in wild (on flowerbeds, on bends, on pedestrian crossings, near an intersection, in the church square) and illegal parking attendants who direct the "traffic" of the parking lots. In Poetto, in fact, there are illegal parking attendants who invent parking spaces where there aren't any and where you can't. “Steer, steer,” one man guides the maneuver as he maneuvers an SUV between a “give way” sign and a lamppost, as if it were a Smart. Two euros for the effort of having found that gem of a parking space and having helped him maneuver are mandatory. “But we have to eat, can’t you give us something more?” He collects five, this time. And with a smile at the motorist who is leaving the car, he bids them farewell with a wish: “Enjoy the sea.”

The complaint – Illegal parking attendants at Poetto are nothing new. Summer arrives and, punctually, they return too. A few weeks ago, the municipal police stopped and chased away some of them who were trying to make money on the last part of the dirt road in Marina Piccola. Perhaps also driven by the high prices of parking this year, they seem to have fewer qualms than in previous years. In fact, if you try to avoid them, trying not to follow their instructions and thus escape the obligation to pay the fee, they catch up with the motorists and those who are not compliant are subjected to an unwelcome “escort”, often accompanied by threats. “It’s unbearable,” says Mr. Luciano. “Last Tuesday, in the afternoon, there were two of them in Via Vulcano, they wanted to make us park our car in front of the intersection, clearly in a no-parking zone. We tried to chase them away, parking further ahead in a designated space. They chased us, we continued not to want to pay, they insulted us and threatened to leave us with a scratched car. We came across a police car, they intervened and the situation was resolved. But it's not fair, those who want to spend a peaceful day at the beach shouldn't be forced to suffer this harassment", he adds. The police intervention stopped the illegal parking attendants at Quarta Fermata after Tuesday, so far, they have not returned. But like Penelope's web, continually unraveled and rewoven, so is the grip of the illegal parking attendants. This is why many are convinced that they will return tomorrow or Sunday.