Lake Garda Supermarket Seized in Legal Dispute Over Land Use

Approval for the purchase of snacks, pasta, and cleaning products, but a halt on cured meats, grappa, sauces, and pickles. Shopping is permitted only halfway, in Toscolano Maderno, a tourist town on Lake Garda’s northern shore, where the Montebaldo supermarket (affiliated with Upim) has been split into two since yesterday. Aisles number 5, 6, and 7 (including the butcher’s corner) have been taken over by the municipality: Mayor Paolo Elena has had the area cordoned off.

The Dispute Between the Municipality and the Supermarket

A grotesque dawn raid, carried out in front of mothers with full shopping carts, witnesses to the latest act of an urban-legal dispute that has lasted 15 years: the 245 square meters claimed by the Municipality (out of a total display area of 1,000 square meters) are the subject of an amendment to the 1985 master plan, which designated them for public use to build a post office. Nearby, the supermarket, which has gradually expanded over the years. The Municipality now claims a different designation for it.

Four appeals are pending before the Tar court, one before the Council of State, one in the Court of Appeal, and one in the Justice of the Peace. “I inherited the situation from my predecessor,” explains Mayor Elena. “If I don’t proceed, it would constitute an omission in official acts.” The closure enacted yesterday will become final in one week.

Reactions and Consequences

“They want to crush a healthy business that pays taxes, waste fees, and ICI on those 245 square meters,” responds Antonio Basteris, technical consultant for the Camozzi brothers, who, along with Montebaldo spa, have been running the Garda supermarket for four generations. “It’s a farce. If the mayor doesn’t back down, we’ll close.” Twenty employees’ jobs are at risk.

Nunzia Vallini