Borgo Egnazia, the celebrity hotel converted into a fort to host the Italian G7

A luxury resort on the coast of southern Italy, frequented by celebrities and billionaires such as Madonna and David Beckham, will host the G7 heads of government tomorrow in an armored summit with a strict security protocol by land, sea and air.

Borgo Egnazia It is an old farmhouse converted into one of the most prestigious and luxurious hotels in the country, which maintains the traditional charm of the towns of the Apulia region, between centuries-old olive trees and rocky cliffs facing the Adriatic.

This is the scene of the three-day meeting of the leaders of the seven richest democracies in the world (Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom) chosen by the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, who has wanted to put the poor Italian south at the center of world geopolitics.

Pope Francis and the presidents of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva; Argentina, Javier Milei, and Ukraine, Volodomir Zelensky, will also participate in the summit, invited by Meloni, who usually spends part of his vacations in Borgo Egnazia.

Madonna and Beckham

The 16-hectare hotel complex is located in the municipality of Savelletri di Fasano, near the cities of Bari and Brindisi, and recovers the peculiar traditional architecture of the trulli, ancient rural constructions of conical shape and white color, with which it has achieved attract celebrities and stars from all over the world.

Madonna on several occasions, Beckham and his former Spice Girls wife Victoria, but also Justin Timberlake, who married Jessica Biel in Borgo Egnazia in 2012, or Dolce and Gabbana, are some of the celebrities who have walked through the numerous streets, patios , plazas and restaurants of the hotel, inaugurated in 2010 and where 700 employees work.

Its charm, as well as its ability to guarantee the total security and privacy of its guests, have also been important for the choice of this spectacular corner of the south as the setting for the Italian G7 summit, with the press center located in Bari, about 60 meters away. kilometres.

Security is precisely one of the biggest logistical concerns of the meeting, which will be protected by land, sea and air, with thousands of police and military personnel, as well as an anti-aircraft defense system that will involve the deployment of at least one military ship, the Andrea Doria, off the coast of Brindisi.

Inaccessible beaches

The residents will suffer the consequences of the high security measures, with prohibitions ranging from fishing and bathing on the nearby beaches to the traffic of people and cars in the maximum security area of ​​Savelletri, the town located a few hundred meters from Borgo Egnazia, and to which its inhabitants will only be able to access with an identification card until next Sunday.

While on the first day of the summit, June 13, navigation will be banned in front of the Svevo Castle in Brindisi, where all commercial, sports and school activities will also be suspended because the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, will offer a dinner gala to the twenty leaders present at the G7.

Although the limitations have been felt throughout the country and tourists have already been able to experience firsthand the complications of the closure of the Schegen area, on the occasion of the summit, which has forced them to suffer long waits at airports.