| Castiadas
from 1956 to today
The closure of the penal colony occurred officially on 30th June
1956 when the convicts left in groups for new destinations. Among
these, mention must be made of the “Is Arenas” penal
colony, belonging to the borough of Arbus, and that of Asinara.
A successor to the Ferrara Colonisation Body was a new Sardinian
organisation called ETFAS (“Ente Trasformazione Agraria
Sardegna” – Body for the Transformation of Sardinian
Farmland). This society began by allocating terrain to each farmer,
10-15 hectares if flat, 30-40 hectares if hilly.
Several of the inmates released from the jail, who had demonstrated
good will and exemplary conduct, were given jobs at EFTAS with
various responsibilities.
The new governing body was charged with guaranteeing economic
and professional improvement, over time, in Castiadas, a sizeable
patrimony reclaimed and made fertile again by the inmates.
At the outset, the assegnees (around thirty for each site), not
yet having a fixed abode, suffered greatly because of the enormous
hardship they experienced. Until the new colonial houses were
built, they were forced to sleep in tents, huts or sheet-metal
sheds.
Once the small one or two-storey temporary houses were completed
and the businesses organised (almost 500 in the entire territory
of Castiadas), every farmer was given the task of cultivating
the sub-soil. In fact, he only had a short time to demonstrate
his capacity to produce a certain minimum quantity, the equivalent
to 700-800 thousand lire a year, or 360-420 euros.
The assegnees came from neighbouring communities such as Muravera,
San Vito and Villasimius, but in the 60s, a large number of families
came to Castiadas all the way from Tunisia, Italian refugees who
were forced to leave North Africa because of the political situation
of the time. Obviously, such an influx of different people could
not but bring radical changes to the Castiadas community.
Between 1956 –60 EFTAS was responsible for the construction
of an oil mill, cheese factory, the cooperative wine-growers’
association reserve, workhops and everything necessary for the
sale of farm products.
In 1986 Castiadas gained full autonomy, having been up till then
an outlying ward of Muravera, but after numerous requests and
the continued disapproval of the Castiadas citizens, it became
completely independent.
Castiadas is a community with 1350 inhabitants, an enormous geographical
area made up of many small communities, sub-divided into five
service areas: San Pietro, La Centrale, Olia speciosa, Camisa,
Annunziata and other smaller settlements such as Masone Murtas,
Sito, Masone Pardu, Sabadi, Monte gruttas, Maloccu, Ortesdu, Cala
Sinzias, and Cala Pira.
Whoever visits the area these days will not find great changes
– it has remained completely the same. Today the borough
council of Castiadas has adopted the new municipal urban system
(PUC). Among its proposals are several ambitious plans, aimed
at giving a just evaluation to this little-known but extraordinarily
beautiful area, with a simplicity unlikely to be found anywhere
else in the world.
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