Was an island guardian

Italian “Robinson Crusoe” (85) dies

La Maddalena beach on the island of Budelli

(Bild: Shutterstock)

Italy mourns the loss of its Robinson Crusoe. The hermit Mauro Morandi has died at the age of 85. He had lived on a paradisiacal island off the coast of Sardinia for decades before being delogated in 2021.

Morandi got stuck on the small island of Budelli in 1989 with three friends and his partner on their way to the Pacific. "I wanted to escape this society that I don't like and live on a lonely island in the Pacific. I found my Polynesia here," the Italian looked back.

The former sports teacher and his friends initially worked as island guards. However, two of the friends and his partner soon moved on, leaving only the third friend (until his death in 1993) and Morandi. In 2014, the island finally became part of the La Maddalena National Park.

Here you can see a post on the death of Mauro Morandi.

The park director ordered the then 82-year-old to leave the island, as no one was allowed to live in the nature reserve. According to him, Morandi "occupied" a building that had to be torn down. The hermit stubbornly resisted, but had to capitulate in 2021 and return to his hometown of Modena.

Island known for its pink sand
The Mediterranean island is one square kilometer in size and has often made the headlines. Tourists have stolen pink sand in recent years. As a result, Budelli was closed to bathers. The sand gets its characteristic color from tiny shell particles.