Gnassi (Democratic Party): "Santanchè, where are you?" Meloni's anger. The challenge of the beach.

On the same topic:

The beach umbrella has gotten out of hand. The beachfront battle continues. Meloni's government outlasts Renzi's, and the prime minister attacks the opposition, which is shamefully spreading misinformation about high beach prices , "damaging Italy's image." Let's go back to the beginning. Democratic Party secretary Elly Schlein calls closed beach umbrellas a "government postcard," with "millions of Italians giving up their holidays because they can't afford them." Really? The Interior Ministry's response follows, complete with "Alloggiati web" data. The government's numbers? These: in June, there were 21 million arrivals, and in July, almost 24. All an increase compared to last year, and further positive figures are expected for August. Hence the prime minister's fury, complete with a social media post: "Those who truly love their country don't discredit it before the world for political expediency." For former Northern League minister Gianmarco Centinaio, it's downright "left-wing profiteering." Discredit? Andrea Gnassi , Democratic Party MP, member of the Tourism Commission, and former mayor of Rimini, responds: “What do you mean, ‘The mountains are fine’? I can almost hear: we’re doing poorly in football but we’re winning Wimbledon with Sinner, the beaches are empty but the chairlifts are full.”

Simplification? Gnassi continues: “ We're treating a complex industry like gossip, like a classic August controversy. In a month, we've gone from talking about overtourism to the crisis of closed beach umbrellas . Meloni casts her horoscope from Greece, while Santanchè 's whereabouts are unknown. Tourism is an industry that needs to be studied and monitored in its complexity, from the supply chain to digital technologies.” Before arriving in Parliament, Gnassi served as mayor of Rimini for ten years, an experience that allows him not to throw it overboard (and into demagoguery). “Those years as mayor,” Gnassi recalls, “taught me that criticism must be made appropriately. When something is going well, you can't just say it's going badly.” So what is going well in our tourism sector? “ It's undeniable that international arrivals have increased. But still less than in France and Spain , as happened last year, and we risk finishing behind Germany.” The figures reeled off by the prime minister? "The Ministry of the Interior's figures are based on accommodation facilities, but the data has increased with the introduction of the national identification code. Therefore, unlike last year, more accommodation facilities are required to report their presence. I understand the security shift, but here we are talking about police station statistics ."

Like the sea, the controversy is also growing. Antonio Misiani, the Democratic Party's economic chief, compares Meloni to Kim Jong Un ("Only in North Korea are those who pressure the government and demand it abandon propaganda accused of discrediting the nation"). Five Star Movement leader Giuseppe Conte brings up banking "excess profits": "On the one hand, the unsustainable price increases on the beaches. On the other, the record profits for the banks." Risk and sandcastles. "The opposition must criticize on the merits, precisely," thinks Gnassi. "That's how you really hurt your opponent." To the accusation of spreading "fake news," Schlein responds with, "Meloni shouldn't respond to me, but to those Italian families whose salaries are too low to go on vacation." In truth, beyond salaries, the issue of concessions to be put out to tender remains unresolved. Gnassi recalls: " The government has created a huge mess over the Bolkestein law. Then they failed to negotiate with Europe, and now 8,000 kilometers of coastline are paralyzed. How do you expect the seaside sector to do well? When you create uncertainty, you only generate chaos.” Tourism Minister Santanchè? At the moment, she's shielding herself on social media with interviews and news reports that say Italian accommodations are packed and the desire for the sea has been annihilated by mountain fever. Again, Gnassi: “Some time ago, Santanchè said that we are attracting more and more high-spending tourists to Italy. In a certain sense, his joke was spot on. We are moving towards an exclusionary tourism, the middle class remains stagnant.” That said, a call for caution. “The calculations are made at the end, over 12 months,” concludes the former mayor. Just in case we manage to open an extra beach umbrella for mid-August.

More on these topics: