[imagesource: Michele Ardu]

Off the western coast of Italy lives an eccentric old man, who has made an uninhabited island, Budelli, his home over 30 years ago.

Mauro Morandi left the mainland in an attempt to “quit modern society and start anew” and he has been largely successful, gaining a fair bit of fame in the process, when he started showcasing the beauty of his home on social media.

He has been the subject of news stories and documentaries over the years (many of them in Italian), but otherwise has lived happily, and free from interference.

Now, the mainland is coming for Morandi, and it could turn his life upside down.

Before we delve deeper into that, this Great Big Story report from 2018, gives you a look into Morandi’s life on the island:

Morandi planned on living out his days on the island, but according to CNN, he is facing eviction if he doesn’t leave voluntarily.

Local authorities are speeding up plans to restyle his ramshackle hut and turn it into an environmental observatory, putting an end to his blissful stay.

“I’m ready to do all I can to stay here, even if that means they’ll have to drag me away. I wouldn’t know where else to go live, certainly not back home in the north, nor what to do — this is my life. I just don’t see myself playing cards or bowls,” Morandi tells CNN Travel in Italian.

Morandi’s island, which shielded him from the COVID-19 pandemic, is set to be repossessed once summer is over.

“All I ask is, if I must be sent away during the renovation works, that I can come back after and keep doing what I do each day: guard the endangered pink coral beach, keep tourists at bay, protect the nature. I fear that if I’m gone, it will be the end of Budelli too”.

An online petition has been launched to keep him on the island garnering over 6 000 signatures from people around the world.

The island has changed ownership several times over the last few years. Since 2015, Budelli has been owned by La Maddalena’s National Park, rendering Morandi’s role obsolete.

The authorities say that they’re just upholding the law.

“Our priority is to intervene against all illegal constructions inside the park, including Mauro’s hut, a former World War II radio station which has undergone modifications which aren’t in accordance with the rules.

Image: Michele Ardu

We need to set the example, protect our environment by first restoring this illegal structure ,and then move on with a new project which will likely be a scientific center for the spreading of environmental awareness,” La Maddalena Park president Fabrizio Fonnesu tells CNN in Italian.

Fonnesu goes on to say that the media are partly to blame for hailing Morandi as a saviour of the island.

Locals complain about the romantic portrait painted of Morandi by foreign media, hailing him as a bon sauvage “hermit.” In truth, says Fonnesu, he’s “an illegal occupant” of Budelli.

Image: L’Huffington Post

Morandi, meanwhile, says that although the mere thought of leaving hurts him, he’s more worried about the fate of the “pink atoll,” so-called because of the rosy hue of its unique coral sand beach.

Whatever happens, he says he will never abandon Sardinia.

Poor guy. I hope it all works out.

[source:cnn]