Salve, in Southern Italy, is famous for sunsets, that set on fire the sea, facades and monuments. The sun dips into water giving us a thousand shades of red, among expanses of white wild lilies, terraces of red soil on the sea and handmade dry walls.
But only a few know that, before the red sunset, there is the white one: a blinding and clear light lies on the waves of the sea, thus making the atmosphere really magical.
Life is beautiful here in Salve among beaches, wild nature and historical villages embroidered in stone…
Foreign tourists know it very well. First of all, French tourists, with their recurrent reservations, are allowing us to register an increase in reservations of 60%.
This piece of evidence comes from a digital press conference attended on Zoom by Italian and French journalists, organized by the Salento journalist Carmen Mancarella on behalf of the municipal administration of Salve.
“The increase in incoming foreign tourists has been significant and continuous in the years” says the vice president of the local tourist office “Luna Luna”. And even in summer 2022 we are looking forward to greeting our foreign tourists. According to the incoming reservations – and if everything goes as expected – we should register an increase of 60% in foreign tourists, coming from France, Holland, and Spain. In fact, French tourists will stay in our accommodation facilities starting from May 2022.
What are foreign tourists looking for? They are looking for experience and emotions. Since they are coming to visit us especially in low season, they are interested not only in sea, but they are interested in exclusive experiences, like boat trips, walk experiences in contact with nature, and quality food and wine experiences in an exclusive way.
The Deputy Mayor of the town, Giovanni Lecci, says: “The increase in foreign tourists, especially French ones, is the result of years and years of efforts of the municipal administration, lead by the Mayor, Francesco Villanova, and of his staff. We have been elected only four years ago. We have made of touristic promotion of our territory our mission to take care of our entrepreneurs and of our touristic operators. We have always been present to the BIT of Milan, to the ITB in BERLIN e in 2019, before the pandemic, we went to the IFTM in Paris with our Tourism Concilor, who met French journalists and tours operators. Now we are seeing the results of such a strategic action thanks to the increase in foreign tourist’ reservations”.
Salve is a town that conveys happiness and relaxation. We need these. In Salve there are fields known as “le masce”. These words “le masce” in the local dialect means “the magic fields”.
The municipal administration of Salve, overcoming all possible obstacles, has organized two digital emotional press conferences on the
11th and the 18th of March. While the Berlin ITB was taking place digitally, Mayor Francesco Villanova connected online with Italian and German journalists. While the World Tourism Show was taking place in Paris, the deputy mayor and the presidents of the Salve Turismo and Pro Loco associations digitally met Italian and French journalists.
The Salento journalist Camen Mancarella conceived and organized the two press conferences: she organises press conferences in Berlin and Paris for seven years as well as press tours with foreign and Italian journalists (www.mediterraneantourism.it). Two interpreters have supported Carmen Mancarella in her work: Luigina Garrapa for the German press and Silvye Delle Rose for the French press.
Book your hotel room in Salve, Italy
LET’S VISIT TOGETHER SALVE, RUGGIANO AND THE BEACHES.
We buzz of on our desert-colored sandy beaches: Lido Marini, Torre Pali from the tower soaking our feet, Pescoluse where sea is very fishy, and Porto Vecchio.
Here is the BLUE FLAG, the three sails of Legambiente and the Green Flag, a prestigious award given by the Association of Paediatricians Doctors to the Beaches that are child-friendly, for the shallow seabed and for the accurate system of surveillance and rescue.
All dunes form the Park of the fragrant lilies, which bloom in spring summer.
And just a few minutes from here are the fascinating caves of Leuca to discover by boat trips.
Walk along ancient paths that once were…Walking along ancient paths that were once beaten by pilgrims and today, by experienced and passionate travelers, lovers of slow tourism.
We are fascinated by wild stone landscapes and white farms.. The countryside in the red soil slopes gently down to the sea, dotted with dry stones walls and typical farm buildings: the pajare.
And you can also come across a cave attended 27,000 years ago by the Neanderthal Man and then by the homo Sapiens or in a dolmen, ancient altar of sacrifices, or tomb, close to the beaches.
Legambiente and the Archès Association have identified 10 different paths, all to discover at a slow pace, as they grow new and tender olive trees.
It’s noon and it’s time for a tasty stop.
The kitchen is a riot of flavors.
And in the recipes mostly vegetarian, you catch the soul of our land, where the sea meets the land.
The bells ring.
The old town centre is an irresistible appeal.
In the small village of Salve recognized among the Authentic Villages of Italy, you will be surprised by its alleys, its noble palaces and the Casa a Torre, a fortress house built immediately after the capture of Otranto by the Turks.
We enter the Mother Church, a riot of gold leaf baroque altars, where you will be enchanted by the sound of the oldest and still working organ in Puglia, which dates back to 1628.
And here is the bronze statue: Saint Nicholas, patron Saint. His eyes, one blue and the other green, represent the encounter between East and West and are a symbol of PEACE.
So much beauty and so much wealth come from the underground oil mill that extends itself right at the foot of the church.
The oil mill is comparable to an oil well from which oil was extracted, not petrol, but oil: the lamp oil with which streets were illuminated and squares of the main capitals, Moscow, London, Paris.
At sunset the sun lights up in red Santa Marina’s facade in the hamlet of Ruggiano, an ancient Sanctuary, along the way of pilgrimages, today the way of the paths, which preserves a precious and ancient wooden statue of the Saint and fascinating frescoes.
Evening falls.
The lights come on. The sky is cloaked in blue, while the bells mark the hours.
In the square people still discuss politics and everyday stories as they did in ancient Greece, in the Agora. Time passes slowly, punctuated by the ringing of the bells.
Life must be enjoyed moment by moment, intensely.
Salve is waiting for you to share with you a thousand and one shades of…. EMOTIONS, that only beautiful and wild land can give you.
www.comune.salve.le.it
