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Interior Italy: The restoration fund mystery, rehoming goats and controversy over crisps
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Top Stories Tamfitronics From the mystery of how (or if) Italy’s restoration fund is being spent to 1 island’s thought to rid itself of goats, our weekly publication Interior Italy appears to be like at what we’ve been talking about in Italy this week.
Following the money
Where is Italy’s recovery fund money going? That’s the billion-dollar question in the country right now — or €191.5 billion, to be precise.
Italy received the lion’s share of the EU-wide post-pandemic recovery fund, beginning in 2021, after the country was hit particularly hard by the Covid-19 crisis.
The billions in loans and grants unfolding over five years were seen as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the nation to upgrade crumbling roads and infrastructure, boost environmental efficiency, and herald major reforms to resolve long-standing financial complications—under the European Commission’s watchful eye.
However, is it going as hoped? There’s been so little data publicly accessible about the spending that it appears no one can complain.
One thing we do know is that organised crime groups are profiting—police in Veneto last week seized €600 million worth of luxury boats, property, sports vehicles and jewellery believed to have been purchased using recovery fund money, and 8 out of 10 of Europe’s fraud investigations linked to the funds are in Italy.
There’s also concern about what the government is doing with the fund. Giorgia Meloni’s administration has modified the spending plan to allocate money to its own priorities—which include funding Transport Minister Matteo Salvini’s dream of building his highly unpopular bridge over the Strait of Messina.
However it appears more likely that the government won’t manage to spend much of the money at all. So far, Salvini’s ministry has spent only 3.3 percent of its share of the fund, the same amount as the health ministry, whereas the tourism ministry has spent just one percent. It might sound unlikely, but Italy has done this before with EU funds.
Italian social media has been full of jokes and memes on the topic again this week, even though everyone is aware there are serious problems going unresolved. For many, it’s a case of I laugh to keep from crying – if you didn’t laugh, you’d cry.
Sea hunch tips
Newcomers are generally surprised to find out that, far from being lawless, Italy is a rule-heavy country where nearly every aspect of daily life is regulated one way or another (at least, in theory).
Italy even has rules governing when beach season officially begins (and ends) in each region, and this week on The Local we also came across somequirky building rules dictating everything from how you should tile your bathroom to what you can put on your balcony.
Whether or not these tips are consistently adopted is another question. However, with such rules in place, perhaps the usually relaxed Italian attitude toward rule-breaking is actually the most surprising one to adopt.
British humour or blasphemy?
An Italian crisp manufacturer’s attempt at using “British-style” humour in a TV ad fell flat this week, at least among Catholics, who accused the firm of blasphemy – which is a crime in Italy.
The 30-2nd advert for Amica Chips is set of dwelling in a monastery and opens with nuns making ready to procure holy communion. The mom superior realises that the tabernacle is empty of wafers, and so fills it with crisps as an alternative.
After likening the “divine” crisps to Catholics’ daily bread, it ends with the mother superior polishing off the rest of the bag.
The ad was quickly pulled from air after complaints from Aiart, an association of Catholic TV viewers, which accused the firm of resorting to blasphemy to promote crisps. Italian Catholic newspaper Avvenire printed a scathing editorial titled “Christ has been diminished to a potato chip.”
Clearly they were not the target audience. Lorenzo Marini Crew, the firm behind the commercial, stated it was aimed at a younger market and had employed “strong British irony” to be deliberately provocative.
The short-lived marketing campaign appears to have paid off via worldwide media coverage this week. In the meantime, the crisps were trending on Italian Twitter and even sparked debate over secularism in Italian laws.
But how swift is “justice” in Italy when it has to intervene in favor of the Catholic church…#amicachips #secularismhttps://t.co/ioSmAI9Cop
— Raffaele Carcano (@RaffaeleCarcano) April 9, 2024
Safe your goat
You might well be happy to hear that the local authority on Alicudi island has reported that its call for people to come and take away its extra goats was a resounding success.
Goats are reportedly overrunning the island, outnumbering its 100 or so residents and eating their property – so the authority recently offered the animals for free to anyone who’d like to come and take them.
The unusual offer sparked global media frenzy, and around 2,000 applications have since poured in from people across Europe and beyond eager to rehome one of the 600 animals available.
Successful candidates will have 15 days to lure a goat off the tiny island’s cliffs and onto a ship, based entirely on Italian media reports. Reassuringly, local officials have said they will prioritize those who wish to “try to raise the animals, rather than use them.”
Interior Italy is our weekly look at some of the tips and talking points in Italy that you might not have heard about. It’s published each Saturday and people can receive it straight to their inbox, by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.
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Where is Italy’s recovery fund money going? That’s the billion-dollar question in the country right now — or €191.5 billion, to be precise.
Italy received the lion’s share of the EU-wide post-pandemic recovery fund, beginning in 2021, after the country was hit particularly hard by the Covid-19 crisis.
The billions in loans and grants unfolding over five years were seen as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the nation to upgrade crumbling roads and infrastructure, boost environmental efficiency, and herald major reforms to resolve long-standing financial complications—under the European Commission’s watchful eye.
However, is it going as hoped? There’s been so little data publicly accessible about the spending that it appears no one can complain.
One thing we do know is that organised crime groups are profiting—police in Veneto last week seized €600 million worth of luxury boats, property, sports vehicles and jewellery believed to have been purchased using recovery fund money, and 8 out of 10 of Europe’s fraud investigations linked to the funds are in Italy.
There’s also concern about what the government is doing with the fund. Giorgia Meloni’s administration has modified the spending plan to allocate money to its own priorities—which include funding Transport Minister Matteo Salvini’s dream of building his highly unpopular bridge over the Strait of Messina.
However it appears more likely that the government won’t manage to spend much of the money at all. So far, Salvini’s ministry has spent only 3.3 percent of its share of the fund, the same amount as the health ministry, whereas the tourism ministry has spent just one percent. It might sound unlikely, but Italy has done this before with EU funds.
Italian social media has been full of jokes and memes on the topic again this week, even though everyone is aware there are serious problems going unresolved. For many, it’s a case of I laugh to keep from crying – if you didn’t laugh, you’d cry.
Sea hunch tips
Newcomers are generally surprised to find out that, far from being lawless, Italy is a rule-heavy country where nearly every aspect of daily life is regulated one way or another (at least, in theory).
Italy even has rules governing when beach season officially begins (and ends) in each region, and this week on The Local we also came across somequirky building rules dictating everything from how you should tile your bathroom to what you can put on your balcony.
Whether or not these tips are consistently adopted is another question. However, with such rules in place, perhaps the usually relaxed Italian attitude toward rule-breaking is actually the most surprising one to adopt.
British humour or blasphemy?
An Italian crisp manufacturer’s attempt at using “British-style” humour in a TV ad fell flat this week, at least among Catholics, who accused the firm of blasphemy – which is a crime in Italy.
The 30-2nd advert for Amica Chips is set of dwelling in a monastery and opens with nuns making ready to procure holy communion. The mom superior realises that the tabernacle is empty of wafers, and so fills it with crisps as an alternative.
After likening the “divine” crisps to Catholics’ daily bread, it ends with the mother superior polishing off the rest of the bag.
The ad was quickly pulled from air after complaints from Aiart, an association of Catholic TV viewers, which accused the firm of resorting to blasphemy to promote crisps. Italian Catholic newspaper Avvenire printed a scathing editorial titled “Christ has been diminished to a potato chip.”
Clearly they were not the target audience. Lorenzo Marini Crew, the firm behind the commercial, stated it was aimed at a younger market and had employed “strong British irony” to be deliberately provocative.
The short-lived marketing campaign appears to have paid off via worldwide media coverage this week. In the meantime, the crisps were trending on Italian Twitter and even sparked debate over secularism in Italian laws.
But how swift is “justice” in Italy when it has to intervene in favor of the Catholic church…#amicachips #secularismhttps://t.co/ioSmAI9Cop
— Raffaele Carcano (@RaffaeleCarcano) April 9, 2024
Safe your goat
You might well be happy to hear that the local authority on Alicudi island has reported that its call for people to come and take away its extra goats was a resounding success.
Goats are reportedly overrunning the island, outnumbering its 100 or so residents and eating their property – so the authority recently offered the animals for free to anyone who’d like to come and take them.
The unusual offer sparked global media frenzy, and around 2,000 applications have since poured in from people across Europe and beyond eager to rehome one of the 600 animals available.
Successful candidates will have 15 days to lure a goat off the tiny island’s cliffs and onto a ship, based entirely on Italian media reports. Reassuringly, local officials have said they will prioritize those who wish to “try to raise the animals, rather than use them.”
Interior Italy is our weekly look at some of the tips and talking points in Italy that you might not have heard about. It’s published each Saturday and people can receive it straight to their inbox, by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.
Extra
Comments
Leer Furthermore
Source: thelocal.it. Originally reported there; this article has been adapted for Tamfitronics readers.
