We are very happy to learn that the famous tourist guidebook Guide Vert talked about the Principality of Seborga in its edition of Northern Italy 2008 (see photo).
Seborga is the subject of a small insert page 161. It is also represented on a map page 162 and quoted in the main index page 393. This is the complete text of this short article which has been published:
“The Principality of Seborga: Because of a bureaucratic mistake, the small Principality (11kms east of Bordighera) had never been officially registered among the properties of the House of Savoy. In the 60s, its inhabitants began to claim their independence, they elected a prince and they started to strike coins and to edit stamps. To know more about it go to www.seborga.com."
On the one hand, we are pleased of the fact that the Michelin guide has also decided to recognize and to admit the existence of the Principality of Seborga, but on the other hand, we are surprised by the inaccuracy and the restricted content of this article.
The Authorities of Seborga also seem to share this point of view. That’s the reason why they have decided to write the Guide Vert in order to ask the editors to correct the six errors or inaccuracies found in the article:
• There is no bureaucratic error: Seborga has never been the property of the House of Savoy but its protectorate (which explains its non-annexation by the Kingdom of Piemont-Sardinia –renamed “Kingdom of Italy” in 1861, the rights and duties of which were inherited by the Italian Republic in International Law.)
• The Principality of Seborga is located in the North-North East of Bordighera, at about 7kms as the crow flies and at about 10kms by car.
• The ‘claim for independence’ is more precisely the taking back of its sovereignty, which has never stopped existing in spite of its Italian civil administration.
• The Principality of Seborga has been an elective Monarchy since the Early Middle Ages and the taking back of its sovereignty has logically led to the election of a new Prince: it mustn’t be considered as an innovation.
• The currency of Seborga, the Luigino, started to be struck around 1630; so, it didn’t start in the 1960s, it only restarted (in 1995).
• The official e-address for the government site is http://www.seborga.homeip.net/ and not the one given in the article.
We will pay attention to the future editions of the Guide Vert and we hope that the information given on Seborga will be more precise and true.
