Economist.com Cities Guide: Milan Briefing - December 2005

News this month

Honours for Oriana

Milan’s city council is to award the Ambrogino d’Oro, its highest honour, to Oriana Fallaci, an Italian journalist. Ms Fallaci, known for her confrontational interviews and articles, made international headlines with “The Rage and the Pride”, a book published in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks. In it, the 76-year-old journalist argued that Western culture was morally superior to Islam. Milan's centre-left opposition walked out in protest when Ms Fallaci's nomination was approved on November 17th.

Ms Fallaci’s award is one of dozens that will be issued on December 7th, a local holiday in honour of Milan’s patron saint, Ambrogio. Others slated to receive the award include Clementina Cantoni, an aid worker in Afghanistan who was kidnapped and then freed earlier this year, and Stéphane Lissner, general manager and artistic director of Teatro alla Scala, who will accept the award on behalf of staff at Milan's opera house.

Controversial acquittals

Three North Africans charged with international terrorism were acquitted by an appeals court in Milan at the end of November. Mohammed Daki, Bouyahia Maher and Ali Ben Saffi Toumi were accused of sending funds and suicide bombers to Iraq. The charges were initially thrown out in a highly contested court ruling last January, in which the judge concluded that the men were guerrillas rather than terrorists (guerrilla activity is not illegal under Italian law). Prosecutors have promised to appeal the case at the Corte di Cassazione, Italy’s Supreme Court.
The case has renewed the debate about the effectiveness of Italy's international terrorism laws, introduced after the attacks in America in 2001. Critics argue that the laws are too vague, and that prosecutors find it almost impossible to get convictions. Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's prime minister, has crowed that some 200 international terrorists have been arrested since he came to power in May 2001. But few of these arrests have resulted in convictions.

Too many foreigners?

One of Milan's first-division football clubs came under attack by a leading political party at the end of November. La Padania, the newspaper of Italy's right-wing Northern League, criticised Inter Milan for fielding a team made up entirely of foreign players in its Championship League win over Artmedia Bratislava on November 24th. “Eleven foreigners on the field means admitting that there are no good Italian players worthy of the starting position,” the newspaper wailed in a front-page editorial following the match. Inter's winning team included two Brazilians, five Argentines and players from Cameroon, Portugal, Colombia and Uruguay.

A jump-start for the elderly

Milan's politicians have been pondering whether to offer cheap Viagra to pensioners. Tiziana Maiolo, a city-council member responsible for social policies in Milan, raised the issue after hearing complaints about the price of the drug from groups of senior citizens. A handful of local politicians want to set aside funds in the 2006 budget, but scepticism abounds. Riccardo De Corato, Milan's deputy mayor, insisted the city could not afford the initiative, while other politicians have pointed out that many of Milan's older inhabitants have other priorities.

Skiiing in the city

For the second year running, Milan's sportier citizens have been skiing and snowboarding without leaving the city limits. They are able to do so on the artificial slopes at the Fiat S-Now Park in the city's vast Vigorelli-Maspes velodrome—last year the park was in the Civic Arena. The winter park, open until January 8th 2006, offers ski lessons, climbing and other seasonal sports. Meanwhile, in the more central Piazza Duomo, an open-air ice rink is to open over Christmas. Catering for seasonal activities is all the rage in the city. Last summer, Milanese unable to get to the seaside flocked to the city's man-made beach resort, first created in 2004.

Catch if you can

December 2005

“Idomeneo”

December 2005

Fans of Mozart visiting Milan this winter are in for a treat. To celebrate the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth, Teatro alla Scala, the city’s famous opera house, is staging “Idomeneo”. This opera seria, composed when Mozart was 24, was rarely performed in his day and until the 1950s remained obscure. Today it is acknowledged to be his first mature operatic work. The plot revolves around the sacrifice Idomeneo, king of Crete, must make for Neptune. Daniel Harding (pictured), a young British conductor who has recently worked with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, will conduct.

Teatro alla Scala, Milan. Performances on: 7th, 11th, 13th, 16th, 18th, 20th and 22nd. Tickets: €10-170. For more details, call +39 (02) 7200 3744, or visit the theatre’s website. See also Daniel Harding's website.

More from the Milan cultural calendar