Latest news with #GiuseppeSala
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Smoke-free Piazza? Milan's outdoor smoking ban faces mixed reaction
A stroll through Milan's iconic Piazza del Duomo looks very different today than it did two decades ago. Back then, street cafés bustled with locals clutching cigarettes and newspapers. Smokers hurried across the square, and even tourists puffed away as they admired the cathedral. Fast forward to present day: the ashtrays are gone, smartphones have taken over and only a pair of elderly men quietly smoke near a street lamp hiding their cigarettes in case police approach. Fines of up to €240 Milan has enforced Italy's strictest smoking ban - one of the toughest in Europe. Smoking is now prohibited both indoors and outdoors unless you're at least 10 metres away from others. Fines can reach up to €240. The ban is part of an effort to combat Milan's chronic air pollution, among the worst in Italy. Authorities say cigarettes contribute around 7% of the region's particulate emissions. Other cities, including Rome, are considering similar measures. Turin already enforces a "courtesy distance" rule, requiring smokers to get permission from nearby children or pregnant women. Public divided, critics push back The new rules have sparked a mix of support and criticism. In Milan, many are happy that they no longer have to inhale other people's smoke in playgrounds, at bus stops or outside restaurants. But there are also many dissenting voices - from smokers, of course but also of a more fundamental nature. Milan's conservative daily newspaper Il Giornale wrote: "The real problem is not the cigarette, but the loss of freedom." "In a world that tries to control every aspect of our lives, where we are afraid of everything and everyone, smoking outdoors is not only a gesture of the social power of tobacco, but also an act of rebellion against conformity," it said. In protest of the new law, some people placed a giant cigarette in the mouth of a statue of a former mayor, while leaflets mocking the current mayor, Giuseppe Sala, read: "You're not our dad. Let us smoke." Smoking habits shift - but enforcement lags Since Italy introduced its indoor smoking ban in 2005, the number of smokers has steadily declined. Today, only about 19% of Italians smoke, according to official data. Yet in Milan, enforcement of the outdoor ban is still patchy. Cigarette butts are scattered across pavements, including in the upscale Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II near the cathedral. Initially, nobody believed that Italians would abide by it. Cigarettes used to be as much a part of the end of a meal as an espresso. It is now completely normal that cigarettes are no longer permitted in cafés, restaurants, schools and universities. However, it would be quite wrong to assume that everyone in Milan is now adhering to the outdoor ban. Restaurant staff have positioned themselves at the entrance of a café for a cigarette break. "The more they forbid it, the more we do it," says Alessia, one of the two waitresses puffing outside. Grace period for tourists So far, only a handful of fines have been issued, and tourists unfamiliar with the rules are generally let off with a warning. At lunchtime and in the evening, groups of smokers can be spotted outside many restaurants. Hardly anyone bothers to hide it - especially as electronic cigarettes are still permitted under the city ordinance. But with warmer weather approaching, city officials plan to crack down. Deputy Mayor Anna Scavuzzo warned: "Italians aren't Scandinavians who obey laws just because they exist." Police officer prefers to chase pickpockets However, the city council should not necessarily rely heavily on the police to crack down on rule breakers as not every officer is keen to enforce the ban. One uniformed officer standing in front of the cathedral square watches two smokers quietly without doing anything. "We've got enough to deal with - like pickpockets," he shrugs.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Milan mayor aiming to sell San Siro to Inter and AC Milan by summer
Inter Milan and AC Milan's bid to get a new stadium built on the site of the San Siro was boosted on Tuesday after the mayor of Milan said he hoped to sell the iconic ground to the Serie A clubs before the summer. Speaking to radio station RTL 102.5, Giuseppe Sala said that he was hoping to receive on Tuesday a formal feasibility study, including a purchase offer, from the two clubs which he would then pass to Milan's city council for approval. "The aim is to sell the stadium and the area surrounding it by the start of the summer holidays," said Sala. Giants of European football, Inter and Milan have long desired to replace the current San Siro with a modern area, and in October relaunched a joint project which was abandoned in 2023 after it spent over three years winding its way through the bureaucratic and political corridors. A new feasibility study for the project, which was originally priced at 1.3 billion euros ($1.4 billion), will include only a partial demolition of the city-owned San Siro, the site of which would be used for green space and a range of sports facilities and entertainment venues. A source at AC Milan said that as of Tuesday evening the study had not yet been sent to city authorities. Before any demolition happens a new stadium, which in the previous project was planned to have a capacity of 60,000 but this time has reportedly been increased to over 70,000, would be built to the immediate west of the current ground, on car parking and a local park. The key difference is that Inter and Milan would purchase rather than rent that land, with work to begin not before next year's Winter Olympics when the current San Siro will host the opening ceremony. "It will take a few years, and when the new stadium is ready, the clubs will renovate the old stadium, which, in my opinion, will stay in place as it is now until 2030," added Sala. - Political unease - It is important for the clubs and Sala that the San Siro and surrounding land is sold soon. If it is still in public hands by the end of this year, a building protection order preventing the demolition of the current stadium's second tier will automatically come into effect. However, there has been unease from Milan city councillors across the political spectrum, with anger at what they see as a bypassing of local democracy as Sala tries to force through the project to avoid becoming the mayor who allowed two of the world's biggest football clubs to leave the city. In 2023, after the previous project was abandoned, AC Milan acquired land in the nearby town of San Donato Milanese for 40 million euros while Inter looked at sites in Rozzano and Assago, also to the south of the city. If the clubs moved elsewhere it would be politically costly for Sala's centre-left administration and leave Italy's economic capital with a huge unused stadium on its outskirts, which would no longer bring in seven million euros in annual rent and would have to be either repurposed or knocked down. Sources within the city council expressed suspicion to AFP that Inter and Milan's owners, US investment funds Oaktree and RedBird, have no intention of moving and that anger is such among councillors that a vote on the sale of the land could go either way. Fans meanwhile have expressed concern that a new stadium would lead to further increases in ticket prices as high-end hospitality areas replace seats for regular supporters who regularly number more than 70,000 for both teams' home matches. td/lp/pb
Reuters
29-01-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Milan mayor sides with Mediobanca, saying MPS bid is Rome-Milan match
MILAN, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Milan mayor Giuseppe Sala on Wednesday sided with Mediobanca in a takeover battle launched by state-backed Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), signalling the financial saga was becoming increasingly political. Sala, a former corporate executive, leads a left-wing administration in Italy's financial capital. MPS's 13.3 billion euro ($13.8 billion) all-share bid for the Milanese rival has shocked Italian finance by pitting a lender that used to epitomise the country's banking woes against one of the most revered names in the industry. "It's clear that (the deal) doesn't possess a strategic sense as much as the presence of the government, which is cause for, I don't want to say shock, but concern," Sala told SkyTg24 television. "Not long ago we rescued MPS with Italians' money and now we're supporting it in a takeover the rationale of which is hard to see. This can be seen as Rome versus Milan, and this is how it is perceived in Milan." The bid comes after Italy's conservative government in November brought onboard as MPS shareholders Delfin, the holding company of late Luxottica founder Leonardo Del Vecchio, and Roman construction magnate Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, who is seen as close to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Delfin and Caltagirone together own 27% of Mediobanca, 15% of MPS and 17% of insurer Generali ( opens new tab. The state still owns 11.7% of the Tuscany-based bank, down from 68%. Delfin and Caltagirone are foes of Mediobanca CEO Alberto Nagel, whom they accuse of relying excessively on income from Mediobanca's 13% stake in Generali. In 2023, Generali accounted for 41.6% of Mediobanca's net profit. "Even a child understands that this is not just about Mediobanca, but Mediobanca and Generali," Sala said. Meloni's government has given its backing to the bid, with Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti saying the proposed deal might strengthen the country's banking system and its broader economy. Although Giorgetti is a political opponent of Sala, he is also a member of the League party, which has traditionally had deep roots across Italy's north. His support for the MPS move to a degree undercuts accusations of a north vs south clash. ($1 = 0.9618 euros)
