SAN FELICE DEL BENACO, LOMBARDY, ITALY – MARCH 25, 2022: A view of an infinty pool of a lakefront hotel. CREDIT: Francesca Volpi for The New York Times
Attendees at a Brothers of Italy election campaign event in Duomo square in Milan, Italy, on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. Italy’s right-wing coalition, led by Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy, is poised for a landslide win on Sept. 25, according to the last available polls before a blackout period Photographer: Francesca Volpi/Bloomberg
A view of the Navigli neighbrhood , a famous hotspot for people to hang out after work and for tourists, in Milan, Italy, on Monday, May 18, 2020. Italy's shoppers may be digging out their wallets as retail businesses reopen on Monday, but many of the country's 2.7 million merchants say there’s little to celebrate. Photographer: Francesca Volpi/Bloomberg
Waiters prepare the tables for the guests in the dining room of Villa D'Este, a luxury hotel which overlooks Lake Como, in Cernobbio, in Italy, on Friday, July 3, 2020. CREDIT: Francesca Volpi for The Wall Street Journal Photo Assignment ID: 57133 Slug: EUTOURISMStory Summary: From the Louvre to Lake Como, something is conspicuously missing from Europe this summer: Americans. Europes hotels, restaurants, cafes, beaches, museums and other attractions are facing an extended loss of their favorite big spenders, especially after the EU extended its travel ban on tourists from the U.S. as well as China and Russia.
Pedestrians passing in front of Palazzo Giureconsulti in Piazza dei Mercanti in Milan, Italy, on Wednesday Nov. 15, 2023. Photographer: Francesca Volpi/Bloomberg
VENICE, VENETO, ITALY – AUGUST 9, 2022: Gondolas and waterbuses in the proximity of the Rialto Bridge, the oldest of the four bridges spanning the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy.CREDIT: Francesca Volpi for The New York Times
People sitting in a cable car cabin to reach the ski slopes, on December 16, 2021, in Seceda, in South Tyrol, Italy. CREDIT: Francesca Volpi for The Wall Street Journal Story Summary: Europes Alpine countries had high hopes for this ski season after nearly two years of Covid-19 restrictions. But now, rules are tightening again thanks to Europe's winter Delta wave, and Omicron threatens to make it all worse. Italy has locked down 40 towns in the Dolomites, the region with the country's lowest vaccination and highest contagion rates. Italys Covid restrictions get stricter automatically as infections and hospital occupancy cross predetermined thresholds. If regions turn Covid-code "red," skiing is banned. That has mayors in ski towns fretting that they could see their ski season melt away.
People in the premises of the Restaurant / Hotel "Alpenhotel Panorama" located at 2000mt right on the sky slopes, on December 14, 2021, in Alpe di Siusi, in South Tyrol, Italy. CREDIT: Francesca Volpi for The Wall Street Journal Story Summary: Europes Alpine countries had high hopes for this ski season after nearly two years of Covid-19 restrictions. But now, rules are tightening again thanks to Europe's winter Delta wave, and Omicron threatens to make it all worse. Italy has locked down 40 towns in the Dolomites, the region with the country's lowest vaccination and highest contagion rates. Italys Covid restrictions get stricter automatically as infections and hospital occupancy cross predetermined thresholds. If regions turn Covid-code "red," skiing is banned. That has mayors in ski towns fretting that they could see their ski season melt away.
An aereal view of the beach in Monterosso, in Liguria, Italy, on Sunday, June 25, 2023. Francesca Volpi for The Wall Street Journal
An aereal view of the Poetto beach in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy, on Wednesday, July 19, 2023. Photographer: Francesca Volpi/Bloomberg
A shop in the town of Ischia, on the Ischia island, Italy. February 21, 2019. ”CREDIT: Francesca Volpi for The Wall Street Journal" Story Summary:ITAMNESTY - Italy has a long history of building amnesties. You construct an unauthorized country house, beach bungalow or oceanfront hotel and the government eventually lets you atone for your sins by paying a fee. The new government was going to be different. The 5 Star Movement, the upstart populist party with roots in pro-environment and anti-corruption activism, was supposed to guarantee it wouldnt happen again. Party leader Luigi Di Maio vowed to protect Italys natural beauty, telling supporters that if he ever signed a building amnesty, they should vote for the opposition in the next election. But Mr. Di Maio did just that last month with a law that allows illegally built houses on Ischia, an island near Naples, to be reconstructed following their collapse in a 2017 earthquake. Opposition parties say he is mimicking the establishment he derides and promised to sweep away. That he hails from Naples and represents the city in Parliament has earned him further scorn. The amnesty in part of a growing list of promises 5 Star made to voters before taking power and has had trouble keeping in its eight months in power. The party has already backtracked on promises to shut down a polluting steel plant, stop large construction projects and block completion of a new natural gas pipeline. Italys first modern building amnesty came in 1985. Silvio Berlusconi, the three-time prime minister, followed in 1994 and 2004 with his own amnesties that legalized thousands of rogue buildings, including on government-owned land and in protected habitats. Various governments of differing political stripes have turned to a variety of amnesties in recent years to raise funds quickly and curry favor with voters. Other recent amnesties have allowed people to repatriate money stashed abroad illegally and pay dodged taxes and pension c
People having drinks on the seafront ahead of the 51st Barcolana regata in the Gulf of Trieste. With some 2000 vessels, the Barcolana has the most particpants of any sailing regata in the world.”CREDIT: Francesca Volpi for The New York Times”, Trieste, Italy, October 12th, 2019.
An aereal view of the beach in Monterosso, in Liguria, Italy, on Saturday, June 24, 2023. Francesca Volpi for The Wall Street Journal
at the historic bar Camparino, funded by Davide Campare son of Gaspare Campari inventor of the Campari drink, today controlled by the Campari Group (Davide Campari-Milano S.p.a) , in Milan, Italy, on Wednesday, January 24, 2024. Photographer: Francesca Volpi/Bloomberg
People take selfies from the terrace of a mall in central Venice. On November 21, 2018. ”CREDIT: Francesca Volpi for The Wall Street Journal" Story Summary: VENICE The famed Rialto fish market of Venice has been open for business for 1,000 years. Now it’s threatened with closure, the latest victim of the city’s depopulation. Without help, we wont make it, said Andrea Vio, who has sold fish in the Rialto market for the last 40 years of the markets long history. When the city known as La Serenissima finally sinks, will anyone still live there to witness it? In recent decades, Venetians have been relentlessly deserting their city. Its population has dropped by two-thirds since the 1950s, to only 50,000 today. One problem is the cost of housing, driven up by the historical and artistic value of the buildings, the scores of non-resident buyers looking for a pied-a-terre in the legendary city, and high maintenance costs. Proliferating hotels and airbnbs have further reduced the amount of affordable houses for long-term rent. Companies over the years moved out of the city, taking with them workers and eventually residents. Jobs in Venice, mostly limited to tourism and the culture and public sectors, often don’t pay enough for residents to cope with the high costs of living. There are ever-fewer Venetians left to buy the fish in Rialto. Only six fish stalls now survive in the once-bustling market. Two of the stalls were recently for sale for around 20,000. A decade ago, their value was 100,000 to 150,000. With the loss of residents, those who remained fear the city is destined to become Italys Disneyland. Legorano would file a feature in late Oct based on interviews in Venice, and with people who have left the city. Venice being the worlds most beautiful city, we think photos and video would work well. Charts would show the citys depopulation.
MURANO, VENICE, ITALY -DECEMBER 17: Oscar Zanetti (C) his son Andrea Zanetti (R) and other workers while the master, Oscar Zanetti, works the heated glass product, in the Zanetti glass factory, one of the most important furnaces in Murano, Italy, on Friday, December 17, 2020. (Photo by Francesca Volpi for The Washington Post). Zanetti Murano is a family-run business, founded in 1956 and handed down father to son for four generations. The glass artisans of Murano rely on methane in their production and are feeling the impacts of rising prices and European efforts to cut the greenhouse gas.
A reflection and the people on the ski slopes at 2500mt, on December 16, 2021, in Seceda, in South Tyrol, Italy. CREDIT: Francesca Volpi for The Wall Street Journal Story Summary: Europes Alpine countries had high hopes for this ski season after nearly two years of Covid-19 restrictions. But now, rules are tightening again thanks to Europe's winter Delta wave, and Omicron threatens to make it all worse. Italy has locked down 40 towns in the Dolomites, the region with the country's lowest vaccination and highest contagion rates. Italys Covid restrictions get stricter automatically as infections and hospital occupancy cross predetermined thresholds. If regions turn Covid-code "red," skiing is banned. That has mayors in ski towns fretting that they could see their ski season melt away.
A view of the interior of the lake boat which is usually crowded with tourists, in the town of Bellagio, on Lake Como, in Italy, on Friday, July 3, 2020. CREDIT: Francesca Volpi for The Wall Street Journal Photo Assignment ID: 57133 Slug: EUTOURISMStory Summary: From the Louvre to Lake Como, something is conspicuously missing from Europe this summer: Americans. Europes hotels, restaurants, cafes, beaches, museums and other attractions are facing an extended loss of their favorite big spenders, especially after the EU extended its travel ban on tourists from the U.S. as well as China and Russia.
VENICE, VENETO, ITALY – AUGUST 8, 2022: Gondolas on the Gran Canal. On the background the island of San Giorgio Maggiore with the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, an important landmark in Venice. CREDIT: Francesca Volpi for The New York Times
Morning mist overt the Tanaro river in Narzole, Italy, on Monday, December 5, 2022.Credits: Francesca Volpi for The Wall Street Journal Photo Assignment ID: 61222Slug: TRUFFLEDOG
NOVA LEVANTE, BOLZANO, ITALY – JULY 5,2022: Tourists in front of a sign with a map of possible routes for hikers in the surrounding Dolomites, near Lake Carezza, one of the major natural tourist attractions in the area, in Val D’Ega, in the municipality of Nova Levante, near Bolzano, in South Tyrol.CREDIT: Francesca Volpi forThe New York Times
”CREDIT: Francesca Volpi for The New York Times”, Trieste, Italy, October 13th, 2019.
A runner participating in the World Plogging Championship running on a mountain road with a bag full of trash he collected, before arriving to the first check point with the city of Genoa in the background, which will be the Italian sports capital in 2024 and hosts the championship this year, in Genova, Liguria, Italy, on Saturday, Sept.30, 2023. Francesca Volpi for The Wall Street Journal
People in a cafe overlooking the city's famous Christmas market, on December 15, 2021, in Bolzen, in South Tyrol, Italy. CREDIT: Francesca Volpi for The Wall Street Journal Story Summary: Europes Alpine countries had high hopes for this ski season after nearly two years of Covid-19 restrictions. But now, rules are tightening again thanks to Europe's winter Delta wave, and Omicron threatens to make it all worse. Italy has locked down 40 towns in the Dolomites, the region with the country's lowest vaccination and highest contagion rates. Italys Covid restrictions get stricter automatically as infections and hospital occupancy cross predetermined thresholds. If regions turn Covid-code "red," skiing is banned. That has mayors in ski towns fretting that they could see their ski season melt away.
People drinking and eating in the famous Christmas market of the city, on December 15, 2021, in Bolzen, in South Tyrol, Italy. CREDIT: Francesca Volpi for The Wall Street Journal Story Summary: Europes Alpine countries had high hopes for this ski season after nearly two years of Covid-19 restrictions. But now, rules are tightening again thanks to Europe's winter Delta wave, and Omicron threatens to make it all worse. Italy has locked down 40 towns in the Dolomites, the region with the country's lowest vaccination and highest contagion rates. Italys Covid restrictions get stricter automatically as infections and hospital occupancy cross predetermined thresholds. If regions turn Covid-code "red," skiing is banned. That has mayors in ski towns fretting that they could see their ski season melt away.
in Davos, Switzerland, on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023. Photographer: Francesca Volpi/Bloomberg
MURANO, VENICE, ITALY -DECEMBER 17: In the streets of Murano, Italy, on Friday, December 17, 2020. (Photo by Francesca Volpi for The Washington Post)The glass artisans of Murano rely on methane in their production and are feeling the impacts of rising prices and European efforts to cut the greenhouse gas.
A tipical Italian Ape car passing by the makeshift tent that serves as gathering place for the people affected by the hearthquake of August 21, 2017 in the town of Casamicciola Terme, on of the most hit places of the Ischia Island. February 21, 2019. ”CREDIT: Francesca Volpi for The Wall Street Journal" Story Summary:ITAMNESTY - Italy has a long history of building amnesties. You construct an unauthorized country house, beach bungalow or oceanfront hotel and the government eventually lets you atone for your sins by paying a fee. The new government was going to be different. The 5 Star Movement, the upstart populist party with roots in pro-environment and anti-corruption activism, was supposed to guarantee it wouldnt happen again. Party leader Luigi Di Maio vowed to protect Italys natural beauty, telling supporters that if he ever signed a building amnesty, they should vote for the opposition in the next election. But Mr. Di Maio did just that last month with a law that allows illegally built houses on Ischia, an island near Naples, to be reconstructed following their collapse in a 2017 earthquake. Opposition parties say he is mimicking the establishment he derides and promised to sweep away. That he hails from Naples and represents the city in Parliament has earned him further scorn. The amnesty in part of a growing list of promises 5 Star made to voters before taking power and has had trouble keeping in its eight months in power. The party has already backtracked on promises to shut down a polluting steel plant, stop large construction projects and block completion of a new natural gas pipeline. Italys first modern building amnesty came in 1985. Silvio Berlusconi, the three-time prime minister, followed in 1994 and 2004 with his own amnesties that legalized thousands of rogue buildings, including on government-owned land and in protected habitats. Various governments of differing political stripes have turned to a variety of amnesties in recent year
A detail of the set up of a table in the dining room of Villa D'Este, a luxury hotel which overlooks Lake Como, in Cernobbio, in Italy, on Friday, July 3, 2020. CREDIT: Francesca Volpi for The Wall Street Journal Photo Assignment ID: 57133 Slug: EUTOURISMStory Summary: From the Louvre to Lake Como, something is conspicuously missing from Europe this summer: Americans. Europes hotels, restaurants, cafes, beaches, museums and other attractions are facing an extended loss of their favorite big spenders, especially after the EU extended its travel ban on tourists from the U.S. as well as China and Russia.
People on one of the main piers of Trieste, greets the winners and participants in the 51st Barcolana regatta in the Gulf of Trieste With some 2000 vessels, The Barcolana has the most participants of any sailing regatta in the world. ”CREDIT: Francesca Volpi for The New York Times”, Trieste, Italy, October 13th, 2019.
Boats seen from above, prepare at the start line ahead of the 51st Barcolana regatta in the Gulf of Trieste With some 2000 vessels, The Barcolana has the most particpants of any sailing regatta in the world. ”CREDIT: Francesca Volpi for The New York Times”, Trieste, Italy, October 13th, 2019.
MURANO, VENICE, ITALY -DECEMBER 17: A commercial boat sails at dawn on the waters of the canals around Murano, Italy, on Friday, December 17, 2020. (Photo by Francesca Volpi for The Washington Post)The glass artisans of Murano rely on methane in their production and are feeling the impacts of rising prices and European efforts to cut the greenhouse gas.
A tourist souvernir shop in Piazza Duomo in Milan, Italy, on Wednesday Nov. 15, 2023. Photographer: Francesca Volpi/Bloomberg
The statue of Sallustio Bandini, an economist and politician, stands in Piazza Salimbeni in front of the Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA bank headquarters in the early evening, in Siena, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 11, 2023. Photographer: Francesca Volpi/Bloomberg
MURANO, VENICE, ITALY -DECEMBER 17: A glass sculpture in the shape of a horse as it comes out of the oven in the Zanetti glass factory in the Zanetti glass factory, one of the most important furnaces in Murano, Italy, on Friday, December 17, 2020. (Photo by Francesca Volpi for The Washington Post). Zanetti Murano is a family-run business, founded in 1956 and handed down father to son for four generations. The glass artisans of Murano rely on methane in their production and are feeling the impacts of rising prices and European efforts to cut the greenhouse gas.