Economist.com Cities Guide: Milan Briefing - July 2005

News this month

Mass arrests follow London bombs

Prompted by the bombing attacks in London on July 7th, police arrested 142 people in and around Milan. As part of a security sweep, some 2,000 officers questioned over 7,000 people, but the charges were mainly for minor offences, such as theft or illegal immigration. Of those arrested, 83 were illegal immigrants, 52 of whom were issued deportation orders. No one has been charged in connection with terrorism, though a small amount of explosives was discovered at the home of one ex-convict.

The government's support of the war in Iraq has heightened fears that the country will be the next target of a terrorist strike. Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's prime minister, has supplied troops for the America-led operation, despite widespread popular opposition. He also faces a difficult re-election campaign this year, which is reminiscent of the situation in Spain that preceded the March 2004 train bombings in Madrid, which killed 191 people. As said by the daily Il Messaggero, “Now an attack in our house is more likely than ever.”

A verdict on Parmalat

A judge in Milan has convicted and sentenced 11 people connected with Parmalat, the disgraced Italian dairy group. Plea bargains secured the sentences, which range from ten months to two and a half years for market manipulation, obstruction of justice and falsifying audits. The harshest punishments were meted out to Fausto Tonna, Parmalat's former chief financial officer, and Gian Paolo Zini, a lawyer who set up offshore companies to hide Parmalat’s losses and debt. Calisto Tanzi, Parmalat's founder, faces trial on September 28th.

The convictions are a victory for prosecutors, but the guilty parties will probably be spared time in jail. Italian law suspends the sentences of first-time offenders given less than two years in jail. Mr Tanzi's health problems should ensure that he is kept out of prison, while Mr Tonna and Mr Zini are expected to perform community service. But prosecutors in Parma, where the company has its headquarters, are investigating more serious crimes—such as fraudulent bankruptcy—which could carry heftier sentences.

No camping

Milan’s city government is poised to remove all unauthorised Roma (gypsy) camps. On June 29th, police raided Capo Rizzuto, a Roma settlement sheltering illegal immigrants in the north-west part of the city. Riccardo De Corato, Milan's deputy mayor, insisted that this marked the start of a crackdown on camps that pose what he says are serious security risks. City officials rejected calls to open smaller, more manageable camps within the city’s limits, claiming the responsibility for sheltering Roma should be shared with surrounding communities. Milan has eight officially sanctioned camps, and at least ten unauthorised settlements on the city's outskirts.

First the good news

July brought some flattering news for Italy's economic capital. An annual report on the state of the city, released on July 4th, praised Milan for being a cosmopolitan and commercially competitive metropolis. The report, prepared by the city’s Ambrosianeum Foundation, also pointed to an increasing amount of green space, a rising number of urban-renewal plans and a series of high-profile architectural projects, such as the recent construction of a new ultra-modern trade fair on the outskirts of town.

But the Milano 2005 report was not all good news. The city has also become more expensive, with one in five families struggling to stretch their paycheque to the end of the month. And 14% live below the poverty threshold.

Commemorating Craxi

Milan's supervisory board has approved plans to install a plaque outside the former office of Bettino Craxi, Italy's socialist prime minister from 1983 to 1987. Craxi, who fled corruption charges in 1994, was one of Italy’s most powerful political figures of the 1980s. Born in Milan, Craxi got his political start here. The plaque has provoked protests from his critics, who say the late politician should not be glorified.

Particularly outspoken detractors include Antonio Di Pietro, a former prosecutor who was part of the so-called Mani Pulite (Clean Hands) team investigating corruption in the 1990s, and Matteo Salvini, a member of the Lega Nord party that is part of Milan’s centre-right government. But Guido Manca, a former socialist and a member of the city's supervisory board, defends the decision, and suggested that the plaque describe Craxi as a “great political personality”.

All night long

Locals turned out in droves for Milan’s second annual Notte Bianca (White Night). An estimated 1m people came to the all-night party, from the afternoon of June 18th to 6am on June 19th. Cultural initiatives, including visits to the city’s La Scala opera house, to Da Vinci’s “Last Supper”, and plenty of concerts, special museum openings and performances continued until dawn, with some shops open for business in the early hours.

“I believe that with this success, the Notte Bianca will become an institution,” said Giovanni Bozzetti, the local politician responsible for organising the event. “A new love between the city and its citizens has begun.” But while most attendees were enthusiastic about an event that attracted young and old alike, others complained about traffic jams, creaky public transport and rubbish piling up during the city’s night of revelry.

Catch if you can

July 2005

Fotografia Estate 2005

Until September 25th 2005

For the second year, Milan’s Palazzo Reale is hosting a summer display of photographs. Two exhibitions are running side by side. The first features 119 black-and-white images by Robert Doisneau, a renowned French photographer, including his famous photograph of a young Parisian couple locked in an embrace in front of the Hôtel De Ville, taken in 1950. “Double Visions”, the second show, has 112 photographs of Italy, including images of beaches, walks in Rome, tuna fishing and the country's ancient remains. Works by home-grown photographers, such as Mario Giacomelli, Gianni Berengo Gardin and others, are contrasted with images by foreign photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson and Paul Strand.

Palazzo Reale, 12, Piazza Duomo. Open: Tues-Sun 9.30am-8pm (Thurs until 10.30pm). Tel: +39 (02) 8846 4533. Tickets: €8.

More from the Milan cultural calendar