Man living alone on island for 32 years set to leave as eviction looms

Mauro Morandi has been living on Italy’s island of Budelli for 32 years. Image: Facebook/@mauro.dabudelli

A man who has been living alone on an Italian island for 32 years is set to finally leave after receiving several eviction threats from authorities.

Mauro Morandi, 81, made Budelli his home when he first stumbled upon the island off Sardinia in 1989, as per The Guardian on April 26. He is known as “Italy’s Robinson Crusoe,” based on Daniel Defoe’s novels telling the story of the titular adventurer.

He landed on the pink-sand beach of the island after his catamaran broke down while he was on his way to the South Pacific. After learning that Budelli’s caretaker was about to retire, however, Morandi decided to stay instead.

Morandi sold his boat then, abandoning his sailing adventure, and moved into the abandoned World War II shelter overlooking a bay, the report said.

Over the last three decades, he has been taking care of the island, cleaning its beaches and even teaching tourists about the island’s local ecosystem.

Morandi’s troubles, however, apparently began back in 2013, when the private company that owned the island went bankrupt. It initially planned to sell the island to Michael Harte, a businessman from New Zealand who promised to keep Morandi on as caretaker, although it was scrapped after the Italian government intervened.

It was in 2016 when authorities of the La Maddalena national park finally gained ownership of the island after a Sardinian judge ruled that Budelli should be returned to the government.

Morandi has since received several eviction threats from authorities, who plan to make the island a “hub for environmental education,” the report said.

The elderly guardian of Budelli will now be leaving the island by the end of the month, saying that he has “given up the fight.”

“After 32 years here, I feel very sad to leave. They told me they need to do work on my house and this time it seems to be for real,” he was quoted as saying.

The La Maddalena national park last year stated that Morandi made illegal alterations to the said World War II shelter that the adventurer made his home.

Many have since shared their support for Morandi, with several petitions calling for the government to keep Morandi on the island and gaining thousands of signatures.

Morandi has decided to finally leave, however, and will now be moving into a small apartment at the nearby island of La Maddalena, which is the largest one in the archipelago.

“I’ll be living in the outskirts of the main town, so will just go there for shopping and the rest of the time keep myself to myself,” Morandi told the newspaper. He also assured that his life “won’t change too much” as he will still be seeing the sea regularly.

“I hope that someone can protect it as well as I have,” he was then quoted as saying when asked about his beloved island of Budelli. Ian Biong /ra

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