Santa Giulia

Santa Giulia

Location: Corsica (near Porto Vecchio)
Type of village: Cases
Date of opening: 1958
Year of closing: 1986

For the record: In 1958, Club Méditerranée acquired Club Polynésie, which had gone bankrupt (numerous unpaid bills, cigarette smuggling, etc.). History indicates that Mr. de Rocca Serra, deputy mayor of Proto Vecchio, and later a well-known politician, came to Gilbert TRIGANO to convince him to take over Club Polynésie and thus save the local economy.

Gilbert Trigano discovered a sumptuous beach on the site of the Club Polynésie, but the facilities remained in a catastrophic state. Everything had to be redone to allow for an opening in the summer of 1959.

But a French political event disrupted the initially planned schedule. On May 17, 1958, measures taken by the Minister of Finance at the time (a certain Mr. Edgar Faure) eliminated the allocation of foreign currency for trips abroad. The Club had to adapt to these constraints.

The decision was then made to open Santa Giulia "in a hurry." Given the degraded state of the village left by the Club Polynésie, accommodation was opted for tents and small wooden bungalows.

The village opened in mid-June 1958. Judith BLITZ (Didy) was the village chief. Since Didy was unable to overcome the difficulties, Gérard BLITZ temporarily took over before handing over to Gilbert TRIGANO. The latter had his first experience as a village chief there!

Water skiing is a major attraction with the magnificent bay right next to the village. Diving is also available.
In 1959, the Club's first freediving school was created by Elie Boissin.
The village later offered sailing, windsurfing, judo, and horseback riding.

In 1986, the year it closed, GMs were able to try funboarding, an activity tested in Kos the previous year.

The boxes were installed in 1959. The GMs discovered a brand new Santa Giulia!!  

A difficult village:

Throughout the village's history, Santa Giulia has been a difficult village to run. These difficulties began right from the start in 1958 and continued for 30 years.
These resulted in intimidation and sabotage of facilities. Threats were made by a "certain section" of Corsican youth who claimed that the club was occupying their land!

During the 1980s, the village experienced two hold-ups, including one involving hostage-taking on September 4, 1986, two bombings, multiple assaults and fires on huts.

Many concessions had to be "offered" by village chiefs or the club's management in an attempt to appease rebellious spirits. Access to the bar, the closure of the nightclub, and sponsorship of the FC Bastia football club in the late 1970s are just a few of them.

The summer of 1986 marked the final season. The Club left Santa Giulia before the end of its lease (which expired in 1988) because, according to Gilbert, security and tranquility were no longer guaranteed.

Village Chiefs:

Judith BLITZ (Didy) opened the village in 1958, quickly succeeded by Gilbert TRIGANO.
For the next two years, Jean Pierre BECRET served as village chief. Jean BASSET (Pop's) led the village for six years in a row during the 1960s.
HASSAN, BATARD, BESSON (Luc's father), GUILBERT, and FLORENCE are among the leaders who would leave their mark on village life.

The last one was Alain Blanc. He closed Santa Giulia in 1986.

The journey:

In the early years, it was carried out from Paris to Bastia by plane or from Marseille by boat.

During the 70s, the Club was authorized to land its charters at military base No. 126 in Solenzara, in order to shorten the transfer time, which was 2 hours from Bastia.

Figari Airport was also used in the late 1970s.