"Excuse me, can I go to the bathroom?"
This is one of the many questions that the merchants of Cagliari , especially close to the summer season, hear more often from tourists arriving in the city. And, depending on the day, the "English variant" takes over: «Can I go to the toilet?». “But the truth is, most of them don't even ask for permission . They come in, they don't consume, they use the bathroom and they leave », explains a bartender who – every day – welcomes customers to his restaurant at the foot of Piazza Yenne. And with the months of "fire" approaching, between June and August, the situation becomes unmanageable. «90% of the people who enter do not want a coffee or an ice cream, nor are they looking for an aperitif: they simply want to make a “ pit-stop ” between the various stops organized to visit the city». And to take for granted the possibility of the service «are also all the operators who organize tours with buses and shuttles. If we are dealing with those who consume, how can we even keep the place clean? Where are the public toilets? Nobody knows. Often they are unusable and – above all – they are not signposted. The signs are missing. Is the service active? Yes, but few know it », comments another restaurateur.
And if there are those who - in front of the groups in straw hats and flip flops - turn a blind eye without complaining «because in any case we have the greatest income in the summer , also thanks to the holidaymakers» someone does not rule out the idea of charging a “symbolic” figure «to cover the costs . Paper, soap, detergents are not free, we pay dearly for them. We don't do it, but it would be right», admit two owners of a historic restaurant in the center.
But the inconveniences, summer season or not, would still exist all year round. «It's not so much the cruise passengers who put us in difficulty. We are among the first to welcome those who arrive. who - especially on weekends - use the bathroom and destroy it: broken toilet seats, kicked flush buttons. We even find shoe prints on the wall. It's not a sustainable situation», says , in the homonymous street overlooking the port.
