ROME-
Angry islanders closed off Capri's harbor on Tuesday, isolating the island tourist destination from the Italian mainland in a protest over plans to reduce the ferry runs that power the economy.
Some 1,000 residents held a demonstration on the docks while others blockaded the harbor's entrance with private boats, preventing ships from docking or leaving, said Pasquale Rampazzo, an official with Capri's port authority. Two ships carrying tourists and commuters from Naples and Sorrento had been turned back in the early morning.
The protest was called after public shipping company Caremar reduced its ferry runs to the island, located in the Bay of Naples. No one answered the phones at Caremar offices in Naples Tuesday morning.
The protest was scheduled to continue through the day. It was not clear if it would continue on Wednesday.
As part of the protests, demonstrators were also blockading the island's heliport, while shops and restaurants remained closed in downtown Capri, Italian news agency ANSA reported.
The town's tourism councilman, Salvatore Ciuccio, sent a letter to the island's hotels apologizing to visitors for the inconvenience caused by the blockade but saying the protest was necessary to push for improved transport services for goods, locals and tourists, ANSA said.
Virginia Esposito, co-owner of the downtown Capri Hotel, said that guests were warned ahead of the blockade and those scheduled to leave Tuesday had either departed a day earlier or had chosen to stay until Wednesday.
"There have been no protests (by the tourists). They understood why we are doing this," Esposito said.
Capri, which lies five kilometers (three miles) off Italy's western coast, has been a retreat for the rich and famous since the Roman Emperor Tiberius built his retirement villa there in the first century.
Attractions for tourists include jagged cliffs, lush vegetation, sunny climate and the Blue Grotto sea cave, where cobalt blue waters create dazzling reflections.
