The thought of having to book a flight "in time" often comes months in advance, when the holidays are still a distant problem. Yes, a problem. Because for many Sardinians who live abroad, returning home is a bittersweet experience that regularly takes on the feel of a true odyssey .
Roberta Puddu, a Cagliari native living in Emilia Romagna , knows this well. This year too, all she wanted was to return to Sardinia to spend the holidays with her family, filled with presents, good food, and love. " Needless to say, I had wonderful days ," she says. But the return trip, which turned into a veritable tour de force, ruined everything .
"I flew from Orio al Serio," he explains, "leaving my dog kennel and my car in a paid parking lot. The flights cost €700 for three people , including luggage. The times offered by the airline are mostly unworthy : either at dawn or in the middle of the night. The plane that was supposed to leave Elmas at 11:45 PM left at 1:05 AM, landing in Bergamo around 2:25 AM." While prices are a significant part of the problem, the surrounding area is no less significant. "On our return," he continues, "we found airport services practically nonexistent: closed bars, poor assistance, no information."
The story ends with a bitter reflection: " I remembered the trips I took as a girl on the Tirrenia to visit relatives in Rome. I called them 'cattle wagons,' because that's how we, as Sardinians, were always treated. And if you're not a resident, you lose all your rights. As always, I feel disgusted ."
But Roberta Puddu's case is not an isolated one. There are also those who, faced with prohibitive costs, have had to give up on returning to the island altogether . This is the story of Noemi Melis, daughter of a Sardinian emigrant , who, with her parents and sister, shelved the idea of spending Christmas in Sardinia: the tickets, without luggage, were approaching 1,500 euros. A sum that in many cases is more than a "bad dream": it turns into insurmountable barriers . So much so that, in the end, the desire to return home is put aside and given way to resignation.
The same fate befell Alessandro Deiana, a Sardinian chef who has been working in Milan for years . To return home during the holidays, he would have had to spend over 800 euros, with the added insult of limited flight availability and the difficulty of scheduling arrivals and departures. "I postponed everything until February," he says. But in the meantime, the anger, frustration, and bitter feeling of denied freedom remain, which for many Sardinians continues to be the price they pay for returning home.