I read in La Repubblica that the tonnara is coming back to Favignana, but just to draw tourists, and the men will not lift the tuna in teams of eight with lances of varying lengths as they used to. To know what a tonnara used to be like, please read my first book, Mattanza. The last tonnara held at Favignana was in 2007. I wonder if they will convince Rais Gioacchino Cataldo to head up this new "sustainable" tonnara. Sustainable is the word used by the mayor of Favignana who dreamed this whole scheme up to increase tourism. "And keep the old traditions alive," he said, but without using the old traditions. Go figure. Poor tourists will see a watered-down version of the once real world of the tonnara, which incredibly lasted into the twenty-first century.
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