Under the Gallura sun, projects with gigantic wind turbines scattered across the sea are piling up. A belt (partly) visible from land, three hundred meters high, in the waters where the yachts of the planet's billionaires - in dollars - now cross, a series of enormous propellers contested by mayors and entrepreneurs who, if they obtained the authorizations, would also squeeze the golden tourism of Gallura. "Everything that was created by the Aga Khan and looked after in the following decades would suffer," explains Lorenzo Camillo, the Australian-born real estate agent who worked with the Ismaili prince in Porto Cervo since 1972, "a world would collapse, dragging down hundreds of jobs and billions in real estate prices. Because it is clear that it would be a watershed between a before and an after: who would pay record sums to buy a house overlooking waters teeming with wind turbines? This applies to the Costa Smeralda and the rest of Sardinia."
If offshore wind farms were given the green light, what would be the consequences for tourism, the landscape and real estate?
«We must start from the basic principle, that is, the concept on which the success of the Costa Smeralda is based: meticulousness in protecting nature. The Aga Khan was obsessive about this, but he was right. When you create a wonderful village with top-level services – shops, restaurants, a shipyard – success is guaranteed. People who live in super-polluted cities, all concrete and tar, traffic, traffic jams, come to Sardinia and find a paradise. This is the reason why houses can be sold at high prices and businesses can work at full speed, everyone makes money selling beauty. Villa Capaccia, for example, was sold for 105 million. If one of the pillars, the most important one, were removed, the project would collapse. The famous yachts anchor in the bay, because – unlike the French Riviera and the Amalfi Coast – it is not concreted. If wind turbines were to appear on the surrounding land and in the sea, no one would want to come anymore. Crete made a similar mistake by defaced the coast with these uglinesses and paid a high price in terms of tourism. Making the same mistake here would mean that the houses would be put up for sale, the prices would collapse, the dream would end. The value would certainly be more than halved, it would become an Eldorado for speculators with money to launder. The problem concerns all of Sardinia, because these monsters would devalue the properties in every corner of our beautiful island. To be clear: above Cala di Volpe they have erected a telecommunications pole with infinitely less impact than a wind tower, but it is near a villa: it has depreciated it, making it unsellable, the owner doesn't know what to do".
Where would it produce renewable energy?
"I have panels on my boat and on the roof of my house, it's a wise choice that should be made everywhere, except the black ones, definitely not those. How can you think of producing energy in particularly valuable areas, devastating the most important heritage of the Sardinians: the environment. Many countries are directing projects towards the Sahara desert, light and heat guaranteed 11 hours a day. Eni is building a large plant in Tunisia. Let's make a Mattei 2 plan, let's call it that. Otherwise the economic desert will invade Sardinia".
Doesn't this seem like a form of colonization to you?
«No, it would be a way to do business together, with mutual benefits».
In abandoned industrial areas?
"No, what sense would there be in replacing an eyesore with another eye-sore. I'm thinking of Porto Torres, those chimneys should be torn down, it's rubbish. It needs to be cleaned up to make room for large shipyards, a navy, and initiatives to support tourism."
Can the mere presentation of projects have an effect?
"It causes damage because it conveys the idea that the Sardinian environment is at risk, but it is right to talk about it to address the problem before it is too late. I had two wealthy German clients who wanted to move to the island for the quality of life, there are many of them, even if they then chose Mallorca for a reason unrelated to the wind risk: it was more suited to their needs for air connections".
What can be done to block impactful projects?
"First of all, inform the Sardinians correctly: make them understand that it does not only involve the rich of the Costa Smeralda but all of Sardinia, from Alghero to Pula, to Sinis and Carloforte, wherever the landscape is defaced for speculative purposes. The damage would immediately be reflected in the vast induced industry. The Aga Khan personally went to buy the Mogoro carpets for his office. I say this because the repercussions would also hit the small towns that produce what tourists buy in Sardinia."
Ever contacted for land for renewables?
"Yes, I dropped the request. I'd rather lose my commission than my conscience."