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horses

Italy Is Set To Ban Horse Meat Amid Draft Of Equine Bill 

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Italy will likely soon be banning horse meat as part of a law that would define equine animals like horses, donkeys, and mules as pets. This classification would make it illegal to kill them. 

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Michela Vittoria Brambilla, a politician with Noi Moderati, a member of Giorgia Meloni’s ruling coalition, drafted the bill which is also being backed by opposition parties. 

If it’s officially approved, the bill would impose jail terms of up to three years and fines of up to €100,000 ($118,133.00) for the slaughter of equines. 

Horse meat is, and has been, traditionally a part of Italian cuisine, especially in Puglia, Campania, Sicily, Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna. Consumption of the meat has declined significantly within the past decade alone, however, Italy still remains as one of the largest importers and consumers of the meat in Europe. 

The bill is also proposing a mandatory microchipping and a national monitoring system for equines, as well as a €6m ($7,088,790) fund to help breeders adapt their businesses. 

“We’re in the 21st century and yet equines continue to be exploited in a wide variety of ways,” said Brambilla, who is also the president of an animal rights association called Leidaa.

 “Horses in particular … while in the Anglo-Saxon world, eating horse meat is almost inconceivable, in our country the species is literally exploited to the bone. But friends are not to be eaten.”

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“[The proposal] was an extraordinary opportunity to bring about a cultural shift that is already dear to the hearts of the majority of Italians,” Brambilla said. 

Gian Marco Centinaio, a former agriculture minister and politician with the far-right League, and a fellow ruling coalition member, is one of the individuals who opposes the bill. 

Centinaio stated that banning the consumption of equine meat “would mean erasing a piece of the history of Italian cuisine.”

The consumption of equine meat was also inscribed on Unesco’s intangible cultural heritage list, “and also the identity of some regions … from the horse meat stews of Verona and Salento to the meatballs of Catania.”

Dario Damiana from Forza Italia stated that the proposal did not take into “account the gastronomic traditions of many regions,” which would be a major blow “to the traditional economic chain” in those regions. This could put businesses and jobs at risk, according to Damiana. 

Overall, the decline in horse meat consumption throughout Italy has been driven by a cultural shift and growing ethical concerns and empathy towards the animals. Last year, a survey showed that 83% of Italians did not eat horse meat, with 17% saying they ate it at least once a month.

Olympic Flame

Olympic Flame For 2026 Winter Games Is Officially Lit In Olympia 

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The Olympic flame for the 2026 Winter Games Milano Cortina was officially lit last week at the official ceremony in Olympia, Greece, known as the spiritual home of the iconic global sports event.

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Ancient Italian City Of Matera Offers Hotel-Museum For Visitors To Experience History With Their Stay 

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A new and unusual immersive hotel in the ancient Italian city of Matera offers their guests the chance to experience history in one of the country’s oldest cities with their stay. Jane Dunford, a travel journalist, recently got the chance to experience the wonders of this one-of-a-kind hotel-museum, and felt truly immersed in Italy’s rich history.

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Colosseum

Rome’s Ancient Colosseum Will Host Airbnb ‘Gladiator’ Battles, To Dismay Of Local Residents And Tourism Experts 

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The Ancient Colosseum in Rome will once again become a “battleground” thanks to a new promotion between Airbnb and the newest “Gladiator” movie. Local residents who have already been struggling with the amount of tourists flooding the city since the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as Rome’s tourism industry, are not so pleased with this promotion: “We are not Disneyland.”

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heat

Hospitals In Italy’s Popular Tourist Cities Reporting Increase In Heat-Related Illnesses

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Hospitals in some of Italy’s most popular tourist cities have reported an increase in the number of people needing emergency care for heat-related illnesses. The nation, like many parts of the world, has been experiencing extreme heat waves that has not deterred tourists from visiting. 

Since the middle of June, Italy has been enduring consecutive heat waves with some central and southern areas reporting predicted temperatures of up to 104 degrees fahrenheit. 

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On Monday, the health ministry put 17 cities on red alert, which means even healthy people can be at risk from the heat. Individuals located in any of the cities that are on red alert are advised to stay out of direct sunlight between 11 am and 6 pm. 

The president of Italian society of emergency medicine, Fabio De Iaco, told Italian news publication Corriere della Sera that as the heat has intensified, there has been a 20% rise in the amount of individuals accessing emergency care for heat-related illnesses in cities like Rome, Florence, Venice, and Naples specifically. 

In Rome there have been multiple cases of people fainting from the heat in St. Peter’s Square or while gathering in other popular tourist destinations like the Trevi fountain. 

“Most of the people requiring care were elderly and suffering from other illnesses,” Dr. Pierpaolo Ciocchetti, the director of the emergency department at the Fatebenefratelli hospital in central Rome, said. 

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“But younger people should not underestimate the effects of the heat,” he told Corriere della Sera. He advised people “not to go to emergency units with illnesses that could be managed at home, adding that hospital admissions for Covid had also been increasing,” according to the Guardian. 

Luckily most of the cases of heat-related illnesses have been resolved through rehydration, and only about 1-2% have required hospitalizations. 

Four individuals unfortunately passed away in Italy throughout July due to illnesses relating to the extreme heat in the nation. The Guardian reported that last week a 26-year-old had to endure an emergency liver transplant at a hospital in Turin after she collapsed from heat stroke while working on a farm. 

“The heat is not deterring tourists, with the number of foreign visitors to Italy estimated to be 2.5% higher than in 2023. In July and August, most major cities are filled with tourists while Italians escape to the beach or mountains. However, with sea temperatures also topping 30C, it is difficult to find respite from the heat even along the coast,” wrote Angela Giuffrida, the Guardian’s Rome correspondent

italy

Italy’s Famous ‘Path Of Love’ Reopens After 12 Years 

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Italy’s Via dell’Amore, the “Path of Love,” has officially reopened after being closed for over 12 years. Throughout the past 12 years the path had been enduring a long-winded refurbishment after a landslide that injured four Australian tourists demolished the path. The Italian Tourism Ministry said the 12 year investment cost about $26 million. 

The path is 2,950 feet long and overlooks the sea as it’s located between the municipalities of Riomaggiore and Manarola. 

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The path’s delicate cliffside location has made the refurbishment and reopening quite complicated. 

“It has been an engineering challenge because of its precarious perch dug into the rock between the sky and the sea,” the Tourism Ministry said in a news release sent to CNN.

“Refurbishment work started on January 14, 2022, and finished on July 19, 2024. Specialized companies worked on site, using helicopters to transport materials and installing a stainless steel net and deep bolts. Rock climbers moved the equipment on the walls while suspended with ropes and steel cables to special anchors,” Sharon Braithwaite of CNN wrote. 

The overall investment of $26 million was split amongst several Italian ministries. The path itself will now be managed by the Municipality of Riomaggiore as an “open-air museum,” according to reports. 

“From July 27 to August 8, the path will be open exclusively to residents of the Cinque Terre as well as Levanto, La Spezia and former residents and owners of second homes in the Municipality of Riomaggiore and their families,” Braithwaite reported. 

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The path will then be accessible to tourists on August 9th, but visitors will need to book their trip in advance on the path’s website, which is also currently under construction. Visitors pay an $11 fee and guides are available. 

Access to the path will be limited to 400 people per hour. That population of people will be divided into groups of 100,entering the path every 15 minutes, according to the Municipality of Riomaggiore website. 

“It is a source of great pride for us to be able to return the Via dell’Amore, in all its beauty, uniqueness and in complete safety, to residents, Ligurians and tourists from all over the world,” said Giacomo Giampedrone, commissioner for the safety work.

He said the “region of Liguria financed and was responsible for the work of restoring the path’s safety.”

“It was a job as complex as it was spectacular, carried out exactly like the recovery of a work of art of inestimable value, with the utmost protection and respect for the surrounding environment,” Giampedrone said.

“My invitation is to come to Liguria to admire the Via dell’Amore: let yourself be amazed by this unique place, suspended between the sky and the sea, set in the rock, in the heart of a natural paradise. You will be left breathless by its beauty.”

storms

Major Storms And Torrential Rain Have Hit France, Switzerland, and Italy

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Major storms and torrential rains hit France, Switzerland, and Italy this past weekend, leaving seven people dead, according to local authorities.

Authorities spoke with the media outlet Agence France-Presse, and detailed that three people in their 70s and 80s died in France’s north-eastern Aube region on Saturday after their car was crushed by a tree while they were driving against major winds. A fourth passenger is currently in critical condition. 

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Four people died in Switzerland and another is missing, according to the local police. Three were killed from a landslide brought on by torrential rains in the south-east, according to Italian police. 

According to the Guardian, police said that a man was found dead in a hotel in Saas-Grund in Valais, likely due to rapid and sudden flooding. Another man is also currently missing in the same area. 

“Several hundred people” were evacuated in Valais and multiple roads were closed from flooding and landslide warnings, according to civil security services. 

Emergency services had to navigate how to evacuate 300 people who were in Peccia for a football tournament, and 70 individuals who were at a “holiday camp” in the village of Mogno. 

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In recent years when major natural disasters have occurred, scientists have reminded the world that climate change brought on by human activity and lack of government intervention has caused the intensity, frequency, and length of extreme weather events to increase immensely. 

Police also discussed how rescue efforts have been very difficult due to continuous poor weather conditions and destruction that has made a lot of areas inaccessible, such as several valleys. Electric networks have also been cut off in multiple areas. 

The federal alert system also stated that parts of the impacted areas were without drinking water. In the west side of Valais, several hundred people were evacuated and roads were closed due to repetitive dangerous weather conditions.

Extreme rainfall in Switzerland also caused major damage and led to the death of one individual. Recovery and rescue efforts are still underway. 

vineyard

New Airport Terminal In Florence Will Have A Vineyard On Its Roof, Aiding New Sustainability Efforts

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New York-based firm Rafael Viñoly Architects announced back in January that it will be adding a new international terminal at the Aeroporto Amerigo Vespucci in Florence that will have a functioning vineyard on its roof as a “new landmark for the city’s sustainable future.”

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train

Train Route Between Italy And Slovenia To Open For Historical Direct Trip 

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A new train route in Europe is opening up that will connect Milan, Italy to Ljubljana, Slovenia in what is believed to be the first connecting the two nations, in this way, in over 100 years; the last time there was a train route between the two is thought to have been during the Habsburg Empire before it dissolved.

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fountain

Climate Change Activists Dump Charcoal In Rome’s Trevi Fountain

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Climate change activists in Rome, Italy turned the blue water of the Trevi Fountain black with diluted charcoal this past Sunday. 

The group consisted of 10 individuals from the climate activist group Ultima Generazione, which translates to ‘Last Generation.’ The group carried multiple banners, one of which stated “Let’s not pay for fossil campaigns considering what is happening in Emilia Romagna,” specifically referring to northern Italy, where there are multiple floods which some experts have linked to climate change. 

“Our country is dying.”

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Rome police stated that all of the activists were arrested and are facing vandalism charges. 

The counselor for personnel, urban security, local police, and local authorities in the Lazio region, Luisa Regimenti, condemned the recent act in a written statement. 

“This was the umpteenth demonstrative act of eco-vandals that hit a symbol of Rome universally known in the world.”

“[Dying the fountain] was a serious gesture, a worrying escalation that must be stopped with a safety plan for the monuments and the works of art most at risk in Rome and Lazio,” she continued. 

Mayor of Rome Roberto Gualtieri tweeted: “Enough of these absurd attacks on our artistic heritage. Today the #FontanadiTrevi was smeared. Expensive and complex to restore, hoping there is no permanent damage. I invite activists to compete on a confrontational terrain without putting the monuments at risk.”

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Mayor Gualtieri also explained to the local media that in order to correct the dying of the fountain, authorities would have to empty the dyed water and dispose of it: “This will involve a significant intervention. It will cost time, effort, and water.” 

This incident marks the third time this year that a famous Italian fountain was used for activists protesting for action to be taken towards flooding cities. 

In May, charcoal was dumped into the Fountain of Four Rivers in Piazza Navona, and in April, the Barcaccia fountain at the base of the Spanish Steps endured the same fate. The Last Generation has claimed responsibility for all three incidents. 

“Charcoal in the water of the Trevi Fountain, 1 out of 4 houses in Italy is vulnerable to floods. How much longer do we have to wait for those in government to take concrete action?”

Flooding in the northern Italian area has killed at least 14 people and displaced more than 36,000 residents. 

“The climate crisis is affecting territories with increasingly intense extreme events, with risks to people’s lives, and impacts on the environment and the economy. And Italy once again proves unprepared,” said Italian environmentalist association Legambiente in a press release.