A new wave of luxury resorts backed by state subsidies are monopolising water in the already drought-prone Italian South, leaving local communities and farmers to deal with the consequences
When we talk about over-tourism in the Mediterranean, we tend to focus on predominantly urban phenomena such as Airbnb-ification and touristic “reification” of cities or neighbourhoods: that is, the processes where the popularised (but fake) idea of a place becomes its new material reality, where neighbourhoods with their own vibrant local culture are hollowed out and turned into theme parks for tourists chasing a misplaced idea of authenticity and lifestyles they first encountered as Instagram hashtags.
But as pernicious as these predominantly urban phenomena are, they are only a small part of the story. In a recent piece for the Italian publication Lucy sui mondi, journalist Vittoria Torsello describes how the development of a slew of new luxury resorts in the country’s south is adding to the water stress on already drought-afflicted communities, all in the name of building golf courses, swimming pools and water fountains for a lucky (and wealthy) few. (This development is justified by the deeply held belief in Italy, as observed by Translator, that “il turismo è il petrolio d’Italia”, meaning “tourism is Italy’s oil”).
Torsello’s article, “Oasi turistiche per pochi, deserto per tutti”(literally “oases for the few, a desert for all”), starts by focusing on the case of San Domenico Palace, the Four Seasons-owned luxury hotel in Taormina popularised by the television series White Lotus. It details how such endeavours are cropping up all over Sicily, a place abundant in water, but coming under progressive strain because of chronic underinvestment in its infrastructure.
The article reports that in 2022 – the same year Taormina was metaphorically flooded with fans of the famous HBO whodunit – “Sicily lost 51.6% of the water pumped through its water system, roughly 339.7 million cubic metres”. The island has frequently been forced into water rationing as a result.
The article then moves to Puglia – a region whose very name means “lack of rain” – to relate the case of La Maviglia, an ultra-luxury resort worth 200 million euros, scheduled to be completed in 2027. Kickstarted thanks to Zes Unica del Mezzogiorno – a policy which turns the whole South of Italy into a “special economic zone”, where tax breaks and cuts in red tape are supposed to encourage entrepreneurs to invest – the article’s author notes how La Maviglia has become a symbol of an extractivist developmental model which makes the South a new frontier for private investment, but with dubious benefits for the local residents and the wider economy.
The resort on the Ionian coast will be built on what used to be farmland by bypassing local regulations and town plans. The finished project will cover an area of some 202 hectares, larger than the nearby village of Maruggio, comprising an 18-hole golf course, “in addition to 70 private suites, 20 boutique hotel rooms, 35 luxury villas, gourmet restaurants spearheaded by famous chefs as well as a 5,000 square-metre wellness spa”. All of this needs water, and lots of it, in an area struggling with water scarcity.
The article notes that projects such as La Maviglia are part of a larger initiative promoted by Meloni’s government which, through tourism, aims to turn the Mezzogiorno (the way the Italian South is normally referred to) from economic backwater into the “locomotiva d’Italia” (literally “Italy’s train engine”). However, in the context of the deepening climate crisis and ever-more frequent droughts, it is unclear who will reap the benefits of these so-called “oases” for the ultra-rich and who will be forced to pick up the tap.
Original article (“Oasi turistiche per pochi, deserto per tutti” by Vittoria Torsello was first published in Italian by Lucy sui mondi on 10 July 2025, in collaboration with Magma Magazine.
It is available here.
Lucy sui mondi is a multimedia magazine which deals with worlds, real or potential, with words and knowledge from all continents.
Summary by BS
