Force (Ascoli), August 31 – It feels like a journey through time. Or rather: a visit to the museum to show your children a world that no longer exists: “Look, once gasoline and diesel cost less than 2 euros per liter.” But no: the photo you see is not from a lifetime ago, it is not an archaeological artifact and it is not even made with artificial intelligence. It’s all true. It was taken at dawn on Monday in one of the new paradises for motorists: Force, province of Ascoli Piceno, a town of 1,079 inhabitants.
Like every paradise worth its salt, it requires commitment, perseverance, trust. And to get to Force from Ascoli, you have to travel a long and tiring climb that winds for about thirty kilometers, through curves and panoramas.
The journey of hope through curves and climbs
But for a motorist who has been cursing the excise taxes for months, counts every extra cent, and fills up spending well over a hundred euros, the idea of reaching that gas station with the miraculous prices he read about is stronger than any fatigue: the curves soften, the climb becomes gentle, every kilometer is a step towards bliss. With the doubt that gnaws at you meanwhile: “But is it true?”. Then the navigator guides you to a road that skirts the town outside the historic center, and on your right appears the gas pump you have been dreaming of for days: white, anonymous signs, without a brand, the kind that really seem from another time.
Paradise is here
You look at the prices and almost get emotional. Yes, it’s true: diesel at 1.928 euros per liter, gasoline at 1.838.
You fill up with a completely different spirit, even if in the end the savings will be just a few euros.
But it almost becomes a matter of principle: yes, another world is possible. It is the world of very small municipalities, of towns from which every kind of service is taken away: the general practitioner, banks, and of course also the gas station. But there are those who decide to resist, like Force, precisely, Valle Castellana, Montedinove and soon also Ripatransone and Castignano, just to stay around Ascoli. We have read in recent days: here the municipalities take direct management of the gas stations and apply cost or near-cost prices, leaving only a small margin to cover expenses. Attention: they do this to maintain the service – at least this – for the benefit of residents. The savings are just a consequence.
The mayor’s gasoline or social gasoline
It has been nicknamed the “mayor’s gasoline,” or “social gasoline,” in times when fuel costs have become an increasingly heavy item in the budgets of families and businesses. Thus we arrive at the paradox that in towns from which people flee because they have lost everything, people return to fill up at humane prices. And maybe one day people will return to live there because elsewhere rent costs are proportionally like those of gasoline and diesel: out of control.
The numbers in your pocket
We were talking about savings: considering that the average price of diesel these days is 2.13 per liter, the savings in Force was 10 euros on 50 liters, over 9%: it doesn’t change your life, but for a commuter who fills up many times, it’s not a small thing either.
Up here, in the town in the mountains of Ascoli, it’s not news, only today it makes more news than yesterday. In Force, in fact, the municipal gas station was opened in 2016, after the closure of the previous facility. “The municipality adds only seven cents per liter on every refill – explains mayor Amedeo Lupi –. These are the funds necessary for maintenance, there are no profits for the municipality. The service is very appreciated because prices are lower and people also come from neighboring municipalities to take advantage of the cost difference.” It’s a matter of principle: yes, after climbs and curves another world is possible.
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