The Albanian Squib
Plus, a road trip through Abruzzo and a funky mix by Isola Paradiso
And so it begins. Earlier this week, on Monday, the first ship departed from Italy to Albania transporting refugees into new offshore holding cells where they will remain for up to three months while the authorities process their asylum claims. World leaders from Kier Starmer to Viktor Orbán have praised the apparently “pragmatic” solution as “a model for Europe’s future migration policy.” Others, more critically, have voiced concerns about safeguarding of human dignity under such conditions. All of which is fair enough. In this limited space, however, I want to flag up how meagre this policy really is. So far, just 16 people have been “sent” to Albania. Five of these have already been returned to Italy on health grounds. One of the centres, in Shëngjin, can host 880 individuals. Another, in nearby Gjadër, has capacity for just 144. When you consider the average number of rescues in the Central Mediterranean per year is around 220,000 people, the Albanian sites are currently able to support 1.8% of this population. Moreorless insignificant. Then, of course, there is the human rights dimension. Meloni insists the centres will not be used to host “pregnant women, children and vulnerable people” and that deportations will only be made to “safe countries.” Given that the list of “safe countries” now includes Egypt, Tunisia and Bangladesh, all of which are facing grave humanitarian crises, and that the term “vulnerable” has been left entirely undefined, there’s certainly cause for concern. And yet, even amidst these worrying developments it’s vital to maintain perspective. Millions are displaced by war, poverty, climate change and discrimination each year, and that number is set to skyrocket in decades to come. Meloni’s “flagship policy” may be problematic, but it’s also little more than a small scale PR stunt designed to make her look good to other European leaders in the short term. As humans on this planet, surely, we all deserve better than this?
Last week the Italian government announced a stealthy anti-democratic policy to further suffocate anti-fascist movements across the country. On Friday, Matteo Piantedosi, the Minister of the Interior, announced a dramatic funding cut targeted at NGOs and civil society organizations that have been working to combat totalitarianism for decades. Right now, the state gives big grants to two organizations in particular: one, called ANED, educates young people about the nazi-fascist death camps; another, called ANPPI, commemorates the partisan struggle and provides asylum and support for those facing persecution by authoritarian regimes today. Under new rules, the government wants to redistribute funding from both of these initiatives to provide more support for civilians living through ongoing conflict, in Ukraine in particular. Now, I’m sure nobody could object to giving money to conflict relief; but this is already covered by the international aid budget. Here, instead, the government is setting up an artificial and unnecessary trade-off between NGO and aid funds which is designed explicitly to fulfil the political aim of undermining civil society opposition. Sadly, most of the nation’s comuni seem to have gone along with the argument. Fortunately, in Tuscany, where the memory of the resistance remains a strong part of local culture, associations are mobilizing and will contest the decision at regional level [more info here, ITA only]. All power to them, frankly.
Travel writer Julia Buckley penned a nice little piece for National Geographic the other day about the still relatively under-explored Italian region of Abruzzo, and it’s well worth a read. Personally, I’ve visited Abruzzo a few times over the years; firstly to L’Aquila, in the months following the 2009 earthquake, then to the Gran Sasso national park in the mid-2010s, and more recently, in the pandemic, to a few small villages around Roccascalegna where my friend owns a house. While I admire the landscapes, the epic nature, the wildness of the place, I’ve always found the region a little sad; picturesque but painfully undeveloped and in many instances disgracefully cut-off from national infrastructure. Still, it seems things are moving-on a bit. Buckley’s piece directs readers to places I’ve never heard of: MUNDA an old slaughterhouse which now houses medieval wood sculptures, terracotta statues and Renaissance paintings. Sextantio, a contemporary “diffused hotel”, spread out across the inland provinces. She even extolls the virtues of the Trabocchi Coast between Ortona and Vasto, which I’ve always eschewed in my rush to get down to nearby Puglia. Is it time to give Abruzzo another chance? Quite possibly. Read the article here to make up your own mind.
Arts & Culture: The Great Ambition
As you’re probably aware if you’re reading this newsletter, 40 years have now passed since the death of Enrico Berlinguer, one time leader of the PCI, and surely the most popular leftist politician in Italian history. The public has been surprisingly engaged in memorial events all year long, and people have been enjoying exhibits, debates, TV features and podcasts in their droves. Yesterday, as part of this boom in commemorabilia, the director Andrea Segre premiered a new feature length film about the man, Berlinguer, La grande ambizione, to an audience at the Rome Film Festival. The movie stars Elio Germano as a 50-year old Berlinguer navigating what were, arguably, the most difficult years of his career, 1973-38, when he was forced to bring the PCI into a ‘historic compromise’ with the Christian Democrats to save the nation from what many perceived as an otherwise inevitable coup. Segre was drawn to the subject out of a desire to tell the story of “a man and a people, in which private, political and collective life were intimately linked,” at a time when Italy seemed to be “crushed by history.” If you lived through this era or, like me, are morbidly fascinated by these events this is a must watch. Catch it at the cinema nationwide from 31 October. The streaming date is still to be announced.
Time for a little music. This week I’ve been really enjoying the latest mix by the Sicilian DJ and broadcaster Daniele Mizar over at the YouTube Channel ‘My Analogue Journal (MAJ)’. Mizar is a resident at the London-based Soho Radio where he broadcasts a monthly show called 'Isola Paradiso'; a space which, as the Morricone inspired name suggests, aims to highlight some of the most “electric, uplifting and often overlooked Italian sounds to an international audience.” Mizar’s breezy 40-minute selection for MAJ is heavy on the dancefloor jazz, soul and funk, taking the listener on a wild journey from Piero Umiliani’s 1975 hit ‘Fried Bananas’ to a remastered cut of Pino Daniele’s ‘Ma Che Mania’ and onwards through a series of film soundtrack samples and “cinematic soul” grooves. This is lovely, atmospheric, cozy stuff and an excellent soundtrack for cooking dinner to. So get that hob boiling, and enjoy!
Recipe of the week: Jewish artichokes, stuffed with meat and herbs
We’re in the midst of some serious maltempo here in Florence, so it’s the perfect weekend, I think, for a little experimenting in the kitchen. This Sunday I’m planning on putting together a dish I’ve had my eye on for a while, namely ‘Jewish Artichokes, stuffed with meat and herbs, fried & braised in tomato sauce.’ I ate something like this a long while ago now at the Nonna Betta trattoria in Rome, in the area round Campo di Fiori, but I’ve been struggling to find a good recipe ever since. Well, flicking through some old bookmarked webpages, in search of inspiration, it turns out Jamie Oliver has got his own version of the dish that, despite his sometimes dubious credentials, seems pretty authentic. He was gifted this recipe, apparrently, by a nonna from the town of Pitigliano in the Tuscan province of Grosseto which, over the years, has been home to a sizeable Jewish community. So that, at least, is an encouraging start. I can make no promises vis-a-vis results this week, but as far as 3hr Sunday afternoon cooking projects go, this does seem a fun one to try out, no? Here's the link if you fancy giving it a go.
I’m Jamie Mackay, a UK-born, Italy-based writer, working at the interfaces of journalism, criticism, poetry, fiction, philosophy, travelogue and cultural-history. I set up ‘The Week in Italy’ to make a space to share a regular overview of the debates and dilemmas, innovations and crises that sometimes pass under the radar of our overcrowded news feeds, to explore politics, current affairs, books, arts and food. If you’re a regular reader, and you enjoy these updates, I hope you’ll consider becoming a supporter for EUR 5.00 per month. I like to think of it as a weekly catch-up chat over an espresso. Alternatively, if you’d like to send a one-off something, you can do so via PayPal using this link. Grazie!