The Italian Robinson Crusoe will leave the island where he lived alone for 32 years

A man known as the Italian Robinson Crusoe, who has been living alone on a Mediterranean island for more than 30 years after having encountered difficulties at sea, He said he was finally giving in to pressure from the authorities to leave and move into a small apartment.

Mauro Morandi, 81 years old, he stumbled upon Budelli, an island in Sardinia known for its pink sand beach, in 1989 after his catamaran broke down en route to the South Pacific. In a stroke of fortuitous fate, Morandi found out that the island keeper was about to retire, so he abandoned the sailing trip, sold his ship and took over.

Since then, Morandi, whose home is a former WWII shelter overlooking a bay, has come to know all the rocks, trees, and animal species on this rugged islet.

Morandi said who had decided to leave at the end of the month after several threats of eviction by the authorities of La Maddalena National Park, who have been running Budelli since 2016 and want to get their house back and make the island what has been described as a center of environmental education.

“I gave up the fight”, a d. “After 32 years here, I am very sad to be leaving. They told me they had to work at my house and this time it seems to be real. “ National park authorities argued that Morandi made changes to the building without the required permits.

Morandi, from Modena in central Italy, said he would move into a small apartment near La Maddalena, the largest island in the archipelago. “I’ll be living on the outskirts of the main town, so I’ll go shopping there and the rest of the time I’ll be alone ”, He said. “My life will not change too much, I will always see the sea.”

Regarding Budelli, he said: “I hope someone can protect him as well as I can.”

For years, Morandi has protected the island without a hitch, clearing its trails, keeping its beaches pristine and teaching summer hikers about its ecosystem.

But its role was threatened when the private company that owned the island went bankrupt. Plans to sell it in 2013 to Michael Harte, a New Zealand businessman who had sworn to keep Morandi as a caretaker, have been thwarted by protests and intervention by the Italian government. In 2016, a Sardinian judge ruled that the island was back in public hands.

Tourists have not been allowed to walk on the pink beach of Budelli, from which sand was often stolen, and to swim in the sea since the 1990s, but they can visit the island during the day by boat and are allowed to walk along a path behind. the beach.

In recent years, various petitions have attracted thousands of signatures in favor of keeping Morandi on the island. Her many followers have expressed their disappointment and anger on her Facebook page.

“There are no words … the destruction of paradise will begin”Wrote Carmelia Mangano, while Mirella Della Vecchia said: “I can’t imagine Budelli without Mauro’s protection… you have to resist!” Salvatore Sechi urged the inhabitants of the other islands of the La Maddalena group “To rebel against this injustice”.

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