Carloforte, a beauty on the Island in front

Carloforte and Calasetta share Tabarkin origins, founded in 1738 and 1770, respectively, by Genoese settlers from Tabarka, a Tunisian island, who had lived on the island for several centuries, fishing and trading red coral.

The Genoese, great seafarers, traders and fishers, are proud of their origins. Despite the influences — first Arabic and then Sardinian — they maintained many of their traditions (including culinary ones), and, most notably, their own language.

Red People

Sa genti arrubia (“the red people”) is the name for flamingos in the Sardinian dialect.

Phoenicopterus roseus — their scientific name — are red because of their diet predominantly of shrimp and mollusks. These migratory wader birds are graceful and absolutely elegant; Sardinia is their perfect habitat with its many wetlands where some live year-round.

Flamingo
Photo by Lorenzo Sestrieri of Obiettivo Mediterraneo