Is Fico’s goiter really luxury? Story of an Italian cliché

Boat (regardless of size) = luxury yacht. It is a very Italian cliché that has recently come to the forefront again in major newspapers and beyond. The reason? The controversy aimed at Roberto Fico, candidate for governor of the Campania region, who was immortalized on his gozzo that has a berth in the port of Nisida.

Is Fico’s boat fancy?

We thought it was an outdated cliché. We were wrong. The equation “boat equals unbridled luxury” is still with us. Perhaps a bit naively, we had deluded ourselves that it had been retired with the abolition in 2016 of the ownership tax on recreational boats, a legislative abomination introduced in 2011 by the Monti government that had affected boats over 10 meters with catastrophic damage (flight of boats abroad, collapse of the domestic market, charters in the doldrums, etc.).

But the slogan “shipowners, all rich” in our country comes back cyclically. In fact, it is very much ingrained in the mass culture and, even worse, in the heads of those who are supposed to govern us. And it is evident in the recent controversy that erupted in Campania and involving Roberto Fico, former president of the Chamber of Deputies and current center-left candidate for president of the region. An affair, if you will, small, insignificant and a pure expression of the media meat grinder that electoral battles are now. Yet sadly symptomatic of an obtuse and recidivist mentality.

Fico’s goiter and mooring.

In Fico he was “accused” of being the owner of a luxury boat, a symbol of power and wealth that poorly matches his path as a progressive, rebellious and “castigamat” former Cricketer. We are talking about a 9.96-meter Sciallino 34′ Cabin model gozzo with a fiberglass hull and marine plywood interior fittings. Two inboard engines and two cabins for a total of 4 + 2 berths. A boat christened “Paprika” that Fico himself bought second-hand in April 2024 with a regular purchase and sale contract and payment by bank drafts at a price of 150,000 euros.

An image of a “sister ship” of the SciallinoThe gubernatorial candidate’s other disgrace, again according to the political and electoral barrage, is to keep the boat moored in the port of Nisida, in an area of military appurtenance, at the Air Force sports club, thus enjoying an exceptional concession, generally reserved for a few civilians who hold particularly important institutional positions.

In short, being the owner of a simple goiter and keeping it moored according to regular contract in a boat club, today in 2025 Italy, makes Fico a symbol of inconsistency, bluster, overbearingness and reserved privileges.

Roberto Fico in his own way defends himself against the accusations and in the media “baillame” speaks of absurd controversy, sterile exploitation, mass distraction. About how this sordid little theater, against which, moreover, a parliamentary question has been requested for the search for truth, will end, we have no doubt. Elections passed, all forgotten. And on to the next squabble….

Little talk, right mindset and straight to the point

In recent years, there has been a lot of talk at the institutional level about Ministries of the Sea, national strategic plans for maritime policies, we fill our mouths with “blue economy” and sustainable development, and European models of coastal tourism and territorial promotion through navigation are resorted to.

Then what? Are we still at “goiter equals privilege“?

Honestly, we make people laugh. In Europe for years, boating has no longer been a niche, but a pillar of tourism. With more than 48 million water sports enthusiasts, 6.5 million boats and 10,000 marinas, this sector is an engine for regional economies and environmentally friendly leisure. Not only that. Recreational boating and nautical tourism is a major economic force, with annual sales of 28 billion euros, more than 32,000 companies and 280,000 direct employees.

Supporting boating for a country like Italy at the center of the Mediterranean means supporting industry, the economy, high-quality production, made in Italy, and jobs.

We would need new berths, efficient and integrated harbors, “green” solutions for propulsion and responsible disposal of end-of-life boats, we need to simplify the boating license process and absorb new technologies in a forward-looking way. Instead we are still behind Fico, his goiter and boating seen as a rich man’s game….

You know what? We at Motor Boats and Sailing Newspaper, and our many readers of these nursery quarrels care little. On the other hand, we do not discount that snobbish attitude, that lumping everything together, that haughty and petty attitude of dismissing boating as a “status symbol” for the exclusive prerogative of the rich that lurks in the folds of these episodes and is still struggling to be eradicated from common thinking.

David Ingiosi