The Arch of Sant’Andrea, in Salento, no longer exists: on the evening of Valentine’s Day, one of the most iconic wonders of Puglia, known to Melendugno (prov. Lecce) like the Lovers’ Arch, collapsed under the weight of storm surges and violent rains that hit the South (and which never end). No, it’s not bad weather, it’s another victim of climate change and poor land management.
It’s a very hard blow to the heart – the mayor of Melendugno Maurizio Cisternino commented to ‘La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno’ – One of the most famous tourist stretches of our coast and of the whole of Italy disappears. (…) It is a tragedy that we knew was inevitable but did not expect to happen so soon
The collapse – unfortunately it is certain – was caused by the storms and violent rains of recent days, the latest during the evening of Valentine’s Day. And it is not only a tourist tragedy, but above all a historical and landscape one. According to experts, this is the most important damage caused by coastal erosion to the Salento landscape.
Where, among other things, the weather emergency is far from over, as emerges from the orange alert announced again a few hours ago by the municipality of Melendugno.
No – we reiterate it forcefully – it is not “bad weather”, this disaster is the umpteenth consequence of climate change and the wicked management of the territory: a deadly mix that is destroying territories and killing humans and animals.
And that is largely man’s fault.
Sources: La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno / Cammino del Salento/Facebook / Municipality of Melendugno/Facebook
