As Britain begins to accept that, under the leadership of Theresa May, Brexit will in fact happen, galvanised Eurosceptics across the EU have intensified their campaigns in a frenzy to follow suit, and calls for further referenda are floated every other day. Yet, as it stands, Italy could never be the next to leave the […]
It was at about 3am that the Remain campaigners started feeling serious chills down their spines. From then on, Leave took a lead of about 400,000 and maintained it throughout. Meanwhile, the pound had been plummeting at a rhythm unprecedented since the financial crisis: suddenly, the predictions of “project fear” seemed, objectively, more real than ever before. […]
There has been little coverage of Rome’s mayoral elections in the international press, at least until this weekend, when the realisation struck that Virginia Raggi, a 37-year-old civil rights lawyer, was likely to become the first woman and the youngest person ever to become mayor of the Eternal City. As of now, with 67% of […]
I moved to London more than a year ago, but it took me only a month to know that I had found a new home. As a university student from the European Union, the prospect of studying and working in London didn’t seem a problem. I do not need a visa. I pay the same […]
“When in Rome, do as the Romans do” is possibly the best advice ever. Chaotic at first sight, polluted, loud and overwhelming – this is the usual Rome that tourists experience. Yet people from all over the world still travel to the eternal city, and still love it. Trust me, it gets even better with a native […]
As the 2017 referendum approaches, and Cameron’s negotiations become more and more preposterous, hardly a day passes without someone speculating on the consequences of Brexit, for Britain and for the EU. But no one is thinking about who might be next. Could it be Italy? There is a case to think so. This month, the Italian press became […]
Swiped: How to Protect Yourself in a World Full of Scammers, Phishers, and Identity Thieves. Adam Levin, Public Affairs, RPR £16.99 Fifty years from now, people will laugh at us. ‘Who could be that stupid’ they will ask ‘to put all their information on publicly accessible websites, available to everyone and anyone?’ And they will be […]
Last night’s Republican Presidential debate was swept by a breeze of change. Not a proper wind – Trump was the usual Trump, theatrical, irreverent and not quite well briefed, Bush couldn’t come up with a decent reply to the oh-so-old question about his family legacy, and Carson played his ‘not-professional-politician’ card yet again. But certain new arguments, dynamics […]
An Italian pimp and an American builder decide to run for president… This could be the beginning of a mildly racist joke, but there is very little to laugh about when it comes to these two characters – who have won and are winning crucial political campaigns in their respective countries. I am talking about […]
When I went back to Rome for the summer holidays, I was pleased to see that – finally – the city is starting to show signs of the sharing economy. I noticed several of Car2Go’s white smart cars and Enjoy’s red FIAT 500s roaming the streets, stopping at dedicated parking spots and generally functioning – at […]
Travellers on a budget across Europe wouldn’t be surprised to book a hotel room featuring “TV, spotless linen, complimentary breakfast, free Wi-Fi and hygienic washrooms” – after all, good quality low-cost hotel chains are the norm. In a country such as India, however, this is a big deal. There is no guarantee of finding rooms […]
There are arguably very few things the UK can learn from Italy, apart from how to make decent pizza and how to look fashionable even while food-shopping in the supermarket. But there is one serious lesson Britain can learn from Italy. That is, be very careful when it comes to electoral reform. In the aftermath […]
When I think of a ‘Universal Exhibition’, its grandiloquent title evokes images of positivist confidence, prosperity, industrialisation, and well-dressed ladies and gentlemen strolling along large Parisian boulevards. Hence, my reaction to Milan hosting the 2015 Universal Exhibition – or EXPO, as it is now known – was initially something halfway between amusement and dread. The […]
Ferdinando Giugliano, an Oxford graduate and journalist at the Financial Times, perfectly represents the ‘Italian emigrant’ today. The majority of Italians who left their country – 94,000 in 2013 alone and 300,000 in the past decade – are in fact male (56%), aged between 18 and 34 years old, and highly educated. “Italy is basically losing big chunks […]
