On the island of Budelli, no trace will remain of the house that hosted Mauro Morandi, who passed away a few years ago, for nearly thirty years. Considered the "Robinson Crusoe" of the island, made famous to the general public with its Spiaggia Rosa (Pink Beach) in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1964 film "Deep Red," Morandi, who arrived there as a caretaker, had settled in an old military ruin near the beach, adapting it into an essential home for a solitary life immersed in nature.
After a long and complex legal process, which saw New Zealand entrepreneur Michael Harte acquire the island—a deal annulled by the Council of State, which recognized the state's right of first refusal—Budelli was purchased by the latter for three million euros and assigned, in 2016, to the La Maddalena Archipelago National Park. With the transition to public ownership, the issue arose regarding Morandi's continued tenancy, as he now became a tenant of a state-owned property whose habitability standards were deemed insufficient. Once Mauro Morandi vacated the property, the Park considered remediation work and the construction of an information point.
The project, however, failed to pass the environmental impact assessment: the area is classified as a protected area, and any structure would have had an impact on the landscape. Hence the decision, announced recently during the first meeting of the new Park Board of Directors, to proceed with the complete removal of the structure. "The organization's budget, which will soon be approved by the Board of Directors, includes the funds needed to award the design contract and to intervene, restoring the site to nature," explained Director Giulio Plastina. The choice is clear: "to return its spaces to nature."