Flying low
Leonardo da Vinci, Marco Polo, Galileo and… Silvio Berlusconi. What do these well-known figures have in common? They’ve all got an airport in Italy named after them – as of Thursday, when the transport ministry announced it had renamed Milan Malpensa airport after the scandal-plagued late former premier.
Unsurprisingly, the idea hasn’t been popular in Italy: many pointed out that naming a major international transport hub after a figure best known abroad for sleaze, tax evasion and close friendships with dictators might not present Italy in the best possible light.
The government, which Berlusconi played an outsized role in forming before his death, didn’t address these concerns as it pushed through the name change “with immediate effect”.
The news was a gift to social media users everywhere, who joked about the airport now featuring a “Bunga Bunga lounge” and asked if this meant it would be getting a facelift. Some said they would boycott Malpensa in future and fly elsewhere; good news for Milan’s other airport, Linate, where the local mayor blocked a past attempt to rename it after Berlusconi.
Judging from the huge – and overwhelmingly negative – reaction this story has had internationally, the damage to Italy’s image has already been done, long before the airport has even had chance to change the signs. Much to the dismay of those of us who’d like to see the country move on from being viewed as a basket case.
Expressing herself
Speaking of taking things seriously (or not), anyone who follows Italian news has probably noticed by now that photos of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni capture some intriguing facial expressions.
Far from keeping a poker face at official engagements, the Italian premier is becoming known for showing us plainly how she feels about any given situation, or person.
Her face always tells a story: from her apparent delight at Rishi Sunak’s company curdling into intense awkwardness at the G7 meeting last month, to her obvious impatience as leaders waited for Joe Biden to arrive at the NATO summit on Thursday.
Meloni’s expressions did not escape the notice of the international press, with English-language journalists enthusing about her being on “top eye-rolling form” and numerous outlets posting the video online.
She was also pictured seemingly grimacing at the back of her long-time political ally, Hungarian President Viktor Orban, who has recently contributed to Meloni’s troubles at the EU level.
Being upstaged in the European parliament, combined with the French and British election results, seemed to have put her in a terrible mood.
Mood pic.twitter.com/UKX0pShLfE
— Mykhaïlo Golub (@golub) July 12, 2024
People sometimes ask if she’s forgotten about the cameras, but I have no doubt that all this face-pulling is conscious and intentional. It’s another of Meloni’s (admittedly very successful) populist tactics. Her fans often praise her for it and insist she’s just showing normal emotions.
After all, anyone can relate to feeling like pulling a face at an annoying workplace situation or colleague – though most of us know better than to actually do it.
Merkel on the case
Here’s a question you probably weren’t asking: What would happen if former German chancellor Angela Merkel became a private investigator and roamed northern Italy in search of murders to solve?
We are apparently about to find out, as Italy’s state broadcaster Rai this week announced a new primetime show called Miss Merkel based around her doing precisely this in her retirement, for reasons which are yet to become clear.
Italian TV critics assure us that the series, produced in Germany and dubbed in Italian, is “absolutely real”.
“Living in the age of fake news and artificial intelligence, everyone was suspicious when the first images of Miss Merkel appeared on social media,” wrote Italian review website RivistaStudio, describing the show as “even more absurd than the images suggest”.
Merkel herself doesn’t seem to have commented on the show, but we bet she’ll be tuning in.
Miss Merkel is set to air on Rai 2 on Fridays from July 12th at 9.20pm.
Inside Italy is our weekly look at some of the news and talking points in Italy that you might not have heard about. It’s published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox, by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.
I,m very pleased that Malpensa has been named after Berlusconi he played a big part in Italian history and was a larger than life character something that is missing in todays poor efforts.