Tuscany demands 30 million euros for Costa Concordia disaster The region of Tuscany is a civil plaintiff in the trial, which is expected to reach a verdict next year. In addition to the 30 million euros claimed by the region of Tuscany, the island of Giglio demanded 189 million euros in compensation for damage to its image as a summer holiday retreat and for local businesses' loss of earnings. Giglio's separate claim was announced to the court by Carlo Scarpa, a consultant to the island's council. The amount was calculated according to the 1,400 islanders whose lives were affected by the wreck during the more than 900 days that it remained wedged on rocks a few hundred yards from Giglio's harbour. Mr Scarpa said the island had been negatively associated with the disaster in tens of thousands of news reports in countries around the world. He told the court that he had documented the huge number of newspaper articles, radio dispatches and television reports that had referred to the shipwreck, in what he called "a media bombardment." But the amount claimed by the island was described as "absolutely fantastical and hypothetical" by Marco De Luca, a lawyer for Costa Cruises. Capt Schettino is due to give evidence for the first time next month. "This region is known and appreciated around the world for figures such as Leonardo, Galileo, Giotto, Michelangelo and Brunelleschi, but after the catastrophe of the Concordia, it became famous for Schettino and his vulgarity," said Mr Rossi. We have always behaved with generosity and a collaborative spirit during this whole business. Today we are here in Grosseto to ask for fair compensation. During the trial it emerged that at the time of the disaster, the married captain was having an affair with a young former dancer from Moldova, Domnica Cemortan, and that he asked her up to the bridge just minutes before the ship collided with rocks. The wreck of the Concordia remained in shallow waters off Giglio for two and a half years, until it was finally refloated and towed away in July. The £1.2 billion operation involved hundreds of salvage experts from around the world, including dozens of Britons, and damaged Giglio's tourism business. The image of the reclining monster on the reefs of Giglio went around the globe and lodged in the collective imagination. It damaged us greatly, clouding the beauty of our beaches, our islands and our countryside," said Mr Rossi. But a lawyer for Costa Cruises said the compensation claim was wildly exaggerated and without justification. "I don't think there has been damage to the image (of Tuscany)," said Marco De Luca. Frankly it seems rather unrealistic. After being hauled upright and refloated, the Concordia was towed to the north-western port of Genoa, where it is being slowly dismantled and broken up for scrap. As it was hauled along by tug boats, photographs emerged of Capt Schettino looking tanned and relaxed as he partied with female companions on the island of Ischia, in the Bay of Naples. When challenged about whether it was appropriate for him to be holidaying while the salvage operation was ongoing, he said: "I never denied anyone a photograph when I was captain, or now. I consider it a demonstration of affection and esteem towards me. Millions of pounds' worth of steel, copper and other materials will be salvaged from the Concordia in an operation expected to take nearly two years and cost £80 million.