An unusual idea during the tourist boom
60. the summers were a period of booming tourism on the Italian Riviera. The Adriatic coast was changing rapidly, with new hotels, campsites and apartments springing up and the infrastructure adapting to the growing number of visitors, especially from Germany, Austria and the Nordic countries.
In this atmosphere of innovation, an idea was conceived in one of the campsites in Lido di Spina that today seems almost surreal:to build a cable car that would take guests comfortably from the camping area, separated from the sea by a belt of pine trees and dunes, to the beach itself.
Clients of the campsite could use this chairlift to get to the beach instead of the traditional walk along the nature reserve. The length of the route was one kilometre (exactly 1006m) and the journey to the sea took about 11 minutes. The chairlift covered an elevation gain of 0 metres over a distance of one kilometre. In total, there were 127 different coloured two-seaters and it could carry up to 685 people per hour.
According to some sources, the father of the idea to install the cable car was Raul Giardini, a well-known businessman who was also the co-owner of the camp at the time. The construction itself was entrusted to the company F.lli Nascivera.
Why did the cable car end?
The cable car operated until about the mid-1970s. Its operation ceased in 1974, probably due to safety regulations, costly maintenance and changes in the approach to the management of the protected coastal area. In fact, the sand dunes and pine forests around Lido di Spina were gradually given ecological protection, which made it difficult to operate technical equipment that disturbed the natural landscape.
Although no visible traces of the cable car remain today, older visitors and locals still remember it well. On various forums and in community groups, they share their memories and black and white photographs showing the cable car among the pine trees.
Now a curiosity - but beautiful
Today, the cable car in Lido di Spina is more of a curiosity from the past, proving the bold and original ideas that accompanied the golden era of Italian coastal tourism. For lovers of history, retro atmosphere and forgotten stories, it's a piece of the mosaic that adds another dimension to the place.
