Fifteen years without the mayor Pescatore: Angelo Vassallo’s voice still resonates against the mafias and in defense of the environment

On September 5 of fifteen years ago, nine bullets ended the life of Angelo Vassallo, the “mayor fisherman” of Pollica. An ambush of Camorra matrix that aimed to silence a man who became a symbol of legality, environmental protection and sustainable development. That attempt, however, was unable to. Today, in Pollica and throughout Italy, its legacy is a concrete example and more alive than ever.

“This is the moment when, as a community, we find ourselves around Angelo, which is, still today, living and vivid presence,” explained the current mayor of Pollica, Stefano Pisani. “For us, Angelo is here, always: on the pier that in summer it is filled with young people, families and children; in the alleys of our villages; in the rooms of the Town Hall. His memory is not only memory, but a living matter. And above all it is commitment: ours, daily, in carrying out the path that he has traced with courage, passion and vision”.

The battle of Vassallo against speculation and illegality today takes on even more dramatic contours. It is no coincidence that Legambiente has chosen to publish his new report “Mare Monstrum” 2025 on the eve of this anniversary. The data tell a criminal assault on the unprecedented coasts, the same that the mayor fisherman fought. 2024 was an annus horribilis: 25,063 crimes ascertained, with an increase of 9.2% compared to 2023, for an average of 9.5 violations per kilometer of the coast. The illegal cement cycle, the first threat, represents 41.2% of the offenses. And it is not surprising that 50.5% of these crimes are concentrated in the regions with traditional mafia presence, with Campania in the lead. Illegal cement, pollution from bad purification and fraud fishing are the plagues that Vassallo had identified and against which he had opposed with all his strength, paying with life. “On the fifteenth anniversary of the killing of Angelo Vassallo we return to honor its courage (…) leading to attention and stories that tell the growing siege to our coasts,” explained the national president of Legambiente, Stefano Ciafani.

A memory that becomes collective commitment

These words, contained in an official note, express the sense of a commemoration that transcends the simple memory. On September 5, in Acciaroli, his community will tighten once again to honor him. The day will begin with a mass of suffrage in the church of the Santissima Annunziata, which will follow the ceremony of delivery of the “Angelo Vassallo” award, a recognition intended for those who, in Italy, carry out with consistency the values ​​of legality and love for the territory that have guided the action of the mayor.

The evening will be enriched by the projection of a video report, a mosaic of authentic testimonies of friends, fellow citizens and collaborators who will return the image of an administrator capable of looking away. A man who, with his marked environmentalism, had transformed Pollica into a model recognized internationally. It was he, in fact, the main promoter of the candidacy of the Mediterranean diet for immaterial heritage of UNESCO World Heritage. A goal reached on November 16, 2010, just over two months after his death, and that the Italian delegation in Kenya wanted to dedicate precisely to his memory.

A tree not to forget

Vassallo’s legacy, however, is not limited to the borders of Cilento. The Angelo Vassallo Mayor Pescatore Foundation promoted a symbolic initiative that found the adhesion of the ANCI (National Association of Italian Municipalities) and numerous local administrations, including Foggia. On September 5, administrators and citizens are invited to plant a tree in their spaces or in public areas to honor its memory. A simple but powerful gesture, which inextricably unites its commitment to legality with the defense of the environment.

“Continuing to remember his broken life is a duty and a commitment for each person called to hold an administrative office and to wear the tricolor band,” said the mayor of Foggia, Maria Aida Episcopo. “His sacrifice dictated by honesty and moral integrity is the reference and model to which each and each of us must be inspired”.

Angelo Vassallo had firmly opposed illegal practices, becoming an obstacle for the interests of organized crime, which saw a strategic point for its illegal trafficking in the port. Although the investigations on his murder are still ongoing, his figure has become a lighthouse of civilization. Fifteen years later, his message resonates strong and clear: politics can and must coincide with passion, ethics and love for his own land. And every tree planted, every award assigned, every initiative in its name is the tangible proof that its battle has not been in vain.

Don’t you want to lose our news?

You may also be interested in: