Economist.com Cities Guide: Milan Briefing - July 2006

News this month

Hot town, summer in the city

For the third year running, Milan held a notte bianca, or white night, to welcome the summer. An estimated 600,000 people turned out on June 24th for night-long celebrations that included concerts, museum openings, tours of local monuments and shopping. The event was not quite as successful as predicted, however, with attendance well below the 1.2m the organisers were expecting and a rainstorm forcing the cancellation of several events. The celebration followed March’s Festa di Primavera (spring party) and there is talk of staging a similar initiative in September to mark the summer's end.

Like other European cities, Milan imported the idea of the all-night celebration from Paris. But another initiative borrowed from the French capital—an inner-city beach—seems to have less of a future. This year the office that oversees the protection of public monuments withheld permission to re-open the beach, which has occupied a site near the Arco Della Pace (Peace Arch) for the last two years. It seems that in 2004 and 2005 local residents did not object to the beach because there was so much construction work happening in the area anyway; once the building projects were finished, though, the objections became that much stronger.

Football trial

Four Italian football clubs—AC Milan, Lazio, Fiorentina and Juventus—as well as 26 officials and referees are to stand trial on match-fixing charges. The trial, which is being run by the Italian Football Federation at Rome’s Olympic Stadium, started briefly on June 29th, before defence arguments ensured an adjournment until July 3rd. Verdicts are expected on July 10th, the day after the World Cup final. This is not a criminal proceeding as such, although separate criminal probes are now underway in four cities. However, the teams could face relegation from Serie A, the top division in the domestic league, lose points in next season’s championship or forfeit their places in the European Champions League.

So the timing is rather tricky for Silvio Berlusconi as he resumes his position as president of AC Milan. (He stepped down from the post in December 2004 because, as prime minister, he wanted to avoid a conflict of interest.) Since Mr Berlusconi bought the team in 1986, Milan has won seven Serie A championship titles and four European championship titles.

Olympics on hold

Letizia Moratti, Milan's new mayor, has withdrawn the city’s bid to host the 2016 summer Olympic Games, clearing the way for Rome to be Italy’s nominee. The move came after the Italian Olympic Committee rejected a request by Ms Moratti, who was elected in May, for extra time to review and possibly change the bid submitted by the former mayor, Gabriele Albertini.
Ms Moratti says that she will support Rome’s candidacy, but has not ruled out a Milanese bid for 2020. The International Olympic Committee will select the host for the 2016 Olympics in 2009. An Italian city, Turin, hosted this year’s Winter Olympics.

One for the road?

Milan is well known for its aperitivi, where generous buffets and snacks are often served with drinks during after-work happy hours. But while they may be easy on the wallet, a local journalist discovered first-hand that it’s best not to over-indulge. Following the example set in the award-winning documentary “Super Size Me”—in which Morgan Spurlock, a filmmaker, ate all his meals at McDonald’s for a month—Carlotta Magnanini, a journalist with La Repubblica, set out to see what effects a steady stream of aperitivi could have on her health. The result was not encouraging: aside from weight gain and spots, after two weeks of happy hours, Ms Magnanini experienced a 25% increase in her “bad” cholesterol, and a 40% decrease in her “good” cholesterol.

Gr8 news 4 drivers

In June a local transport company, Azienda Municipale dei Trasporti (ATM), began experimenting with a system that allows drivers to pay for public parking using their mobile phones. Once users have exhausted the credit that comes in the starter kit they buy from ATM, they can buy pre-paid cards. This new service follows the unveiling of a phone initiative to help Italian drivers find the best fuel deals: a driver sends a text message indicating the type of fuel needed and his location, and the service responds with a list of the four local garages with the best prices.

Catch if you can

July 2006

Festival LatinoAmericando

Until August 15th 2006

The nightly concerts are the highlight of the Festival LatinoAmericando, held at the Assago Datch Forum on the outskirts of the city. Here, legends such as Gilberto Gil, a Brazilian bossa nova singer (and culture minister), and Chucho Valdés, a Cuban jazzman, perform alongside up-and-coming names of the Latin music scene. Salsa, meringue and cha-cha lovers can dance at the festival’s disco while World Cup fans watch football on big screens. Come with an empty stomach as there is food and drink from Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela, as well as a vast array of artisan products.

Assago Datch Forum. Tel: +39 (0)3 22 47679. Open: daily, 6pm-2am. Tickets: €5-20, depending on evening and concert. For a full list of concerts, see the festival’s website.

More from the Milan cultural calendar