Although I was absolutely enchanted with Villasimius in Sardinia, in some ways I found myself unapologetically disappointed. Disappointed because the tourism industry itself is poorly managed, and there is a clear disregard for current tourists and improving the appeal of Sardinia. This appears to me, to be a choice by government and local populations while the only people making a conscious effort otherwise are volunteer groups and those profiting from the little tourism they have.
Villasimius is home to some of Sardinia's permanent population of the Greater Flamingo, although people seem not to
care. The saline area of Stagno Notteri, on Porto Giunco/Timi Ama, is practically a sideline to the beach itself when instead, it should be a feature. Legal boundaries are ignored by visitors and even encroached upon, with parents and children entering the water which is not only unsettling to the flamingos but also incredibly unhealthy as the water itself is stagnant and no guidelines are given. This problem is easily solved with the raising of public awareness, better maintenance and the installation of infrastructure in this area in order to facilitate the local population and in time an increase in breeding, yet this is not done and there is lacking initiative in Villasimius to do so.
Secondly to this, is again, a lack of local (and national) initiative to inform visitors and residents of the protected marine area itself, Capo Carbonara, and the species that are part of this area. There is a lack of initiative to inform visitors about the local heritage and archaeological sites. The only sign I saw, was after a 30-minute climb to Torre di Porto Giunco. This sign was existent, yes, but pretty sorry for itself and easy to miss and sorry for nitpicking but why inform people of marine
populations when you're god knows how far above sea level? Bizarre. I'd spent my whole holiday keeping an eye out, wistfully, for turtle tracks as the beaches of Villasimius make perfect nesting habitats for loggerhead sea turtles, however, didn't see any clues; yet I was delighted to finally find out on the last day (after stumbling across this sign) that the marine reserve is a foraging, and feeding ground, for loggerheads.
When taking into account, human foot-traffic on the beaches this is another issue. Although the beaches see many visitors who tend to stay the whole day the facilities provided, primarily public toilets, do not cater to this number. With one toilet cubicle, strangely poised on all beaches, there is often large queues and a charge of 50cents to 1euro, however, no improvement has been made year to year, so where is this money going? People pay not because they believe it's good value for money but because there are typically no other options, which is a similar story with beach beds. Most beaches are dominated by enterprising locals, who have installed overbearing, large camps of beach beds and beach bars, leaving tiny spits of sand for visitors to dig their own umbrellas in and lay their towels on. These spits of sand are packed full, which I wouldn't expect any less of, from sea to shrubbery whilst many beach beds remain empty due to extortionate prices which outweigh a desire for comfort. Although I do not know why this seems to be from little regulation about the ownership and rights to lots of sand itself and what can and can't be built on them.
Okay, none of these points are a deal breaker for me, as I have already booked flights back in August for my boyfriend's birthday. However, if local government and resident populations were more conscious about the lasting impact their disregard for these beaches is having, then they would inevitably see a rise in visitor numbers and consequently an improvement in local economies. Although it leaves the question in my mind: Do Sardinians really want more visitors, or are they satisfied without them?
Not to end on a low note, it is worth praising the local municipality's efforts in Villasimius to regulate vehicles on the beaches by designating areas for parking, charging for parking, installing gates and emphasising repercussions for those who chose to ignore this new rule. Additionally, one thing that was glaringly obvious was the restriction of building new houses, or developments, close to beaches which have consequently protected local wetland and wildlife populations. Finally, I would like to mention that Southern Sardinia itself is still very 'wild' and to me, that is part of its appeal; I think there's an appreciation for this, however, I don't think it drives people to come back.