Portopalo di Capo Passero

Infobox CityIT
img_coa =
official_name = Portopalo di Capo Passero
name = Portopalo di Capo Passero
region = Sicily
province = Province of Syracuse (SR)
elevation_m = 20
area_total_km2 = 14.9
population_as_of = Dec. 2004
population_total = 3617
population_density_km2 = 243
timezone = CET, UTC+1
coordinates = coord|36|41|N|15|8|E|type:city(3,617)_region:IT
frazioni =
telephone = 0931
postalcode = 96010
gentilic = portopalesi
saint =
day =
mayor =
website =
mapy = 15.1333
mapx = 36.6833

Portopalo di Capo Passero ("Portupalu" in Sicilian, "Puortupalu" in the local dialect) is a "comune" (municipality) in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily (Italy). It's located about 220 km southeast of Palermo and about 45 km southwest of Syracuse. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,617 and an area of 14.9 km².All demographics and other statistics: Italian statistical institute Istat.]

Portopalo di Capo Passero borders the following municipalities: Pachino.

Demographic evolution

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8)

ImageSize = width:455 height:303PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30DateFormat = x.yPeriod = from:0 till:4000TimeAxis = orientation:verticalAlignBars = justifyScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:1000 start:0ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:200 start:0BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo

BarData= bar:1861 text:1861 bar:1871 text:1871 bar:1881 text:1881 bar:1901 text:1901 bar:1911 text:1911 bar:1921 text:1921 bar:1931 text:1931 bar:1936 text:1936 bar:1951 text:1951 bar:1961 text:1961 bar:1971 text:1971 bar:1981 text:1981 bar:1991 text:1991 bar:2001 text:2001

PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left

bar:1861 from: 0 till:412 bar:1871 from: 0 till:538 bar:1881 from: 0 till:611 bar:1901 from: 0 till:980 bar:1911 from: 0 till:1093 bar:1921 from: 0 till:1498 bar:1931 from: 0 till:1857 bar:1936 from: 0 till:1710 bar:1951 from: 0 till:2149 bar:1961 from: 0 till:2366 bar:1971 from: 0 till:2609 bar:1981 from: 0 till:3083 bar:1991 from: 0 till:3211 bar:2001 from: 0 till:3500

PlotData=

bar:1861 at:412 fontsize:XS text: 412 shift:(-8,5) bar:1871 at:538 fontsize:XS text: 538 shift:(-8,5) bar:1881 at:611 fontsize:XS text: 611 shift:(-8,5) bar:1901 at:980 fontsize:XS text: 980 shift:(-8,5) bar:1911 at:1093 fontsize:XS text: 1093 shift:(-8,5) bar:1921 at:1498 fontsize:XS text: 1498 shift:(-8,5) bar:1931 at:1857 fontsize:XS text: 1857 shift:(-8,5) bar:1936 at:1710 fontsize:XS text: 1710 shift:(-8,5) bar:1951 at:2149 fontsize:XS text: 2149 shift:(-8,5) bar:1961 at:2366 fontsize:XS text: 2366 shift:(-8,5) bar:1971 at:2609 fontsize:XS text: 2609 shift:(-8,5) bar:1981 at:3083 fontsize:XS text: 3083 shift:(-8,5) bar:1991 at:3211 fontsize:XS text: 3211 shift:(-8,5) bar:2001 at:3500 fontsize:XS text: 3500 shift:(-8,5)

TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from ISTAT

History

The sea nowrap|19 nautical miles off Portopalo was the scene of the worst shipping disaster to hit the Mediterranean since the Second World WarInformation regarding this incident is taken from [http://www2.dw-world.de/southasia/eu-southasia/1.208441.1.html a DW article on the incident] ] . In the early hours of December 26, 1996, a fishing vessel carrying more than 300 South Asian migrants sank off the coast of Sicily and 283 of them drowned.

The catastrophe happened when the Yohan a merchant ship carrying the migrants from Greece approached the Sicilian Coast and nearly three hundred people were transferred from the freighter to a fishing boat that measured eighteen metres by four. During the operation the two vessels collided and the fishing vessel sank

Some of their bodies remain trapped in the ship’s wreck, 108 metres below the surface. For most of the following years the disaster was considered nothing more than a ghost story. Harbor officials and Fishermen from the port of Portopalo kept silent and the Italian government denied the tragedy ever took place, and refused to accept the testimonies of survivors.

Salvatore Lupo, a local Fisherman began speaking out about the accident in 2001, after he found one of the victims’ identification cards in his fishing net. He then helped a journalist, Giovanni Mario Bellu, working for La Repubblica locate the wreck with an underwater robot equipped with cameras.

References