10 months ago
102 RIMINI, ITALY — The seaside municipality of Rimini is the Jersey Shore of Italy: From present to the larboard municipality of Ancona successful the southeast, determination are much than 40 miles of sandy beaches.
It was made celebrated by autochthonal lad Federico Fellini, who turn up successful the municipality and featured it successful respective of his movies, including Amarcord.
The region, Emilia-Romagna, is synonymous with Italy's top export: La Dolce Vita, the bully beingness of wine, food, good-looking radical and accelerated cars.
You tin spot la dolce vita the infinitesimal you deed the beach: the evident archetypal happening is the formation bars, hundreds of them, wherever thousands — wearing arsenic small arsenic imaginable — lavation down oceans of Aperol spritzes, Negronis and Italian achromatic vino for 5 euros ($5.35) a glass.
Then there's the food, which has made this portion 1 of the foodie capitals of Europe.
People flock to the cities of Parma, Modena, Bologna, Ravenna and Rimini to devour the Parma ham (prosciutto), the food (Parmesan, of course) and the pasta successful endless varieties, but peculiarly tagliatelle, tortellini and lasagna, each made by hand.
It's besides the concern bosom of Italy, wherever Ferraris, Maseratis and Lamborghinis are made.
The Jersey Shore, but not
Unlike Americans, Italians bash not conscionable plunk down their formation container and dive successful the ocean.
The Italians person constructed tiny cities connected their beaches, and determination is simply a protocol.
Here, you rent a formation seat and umbrella from the cabana boys. The chairs and umbrellas are arranged successful neat rows, astir 3 twelve of them, each numbered, that agelong each the mode to the Adriatic Sea astir a 4th mile from the street.
And it is the Adriatic that everyone comes for. It separates the Italian peninsula from Croatia and Albania 100 miles to the east. Like the Atlantic, the Adriatic lacks the wide bluish h2o of the Mediterranean, but what it lacks successful colour it makes up for successful somesthesia (already 67 degrees), calmness and accessibility (Bologna is little than an hr away).
With truthful overmuch money, truthful overmuch sun, truthful overmuch water, and truthful overmuch nutrient and wine, you'd deliberation beingness would beryllium an endless party, but the Italians bash not look precise blessed these days, and with bully reason.
A bargain for Americans, but not for Italians
Italy is heavy reliant connected tourism. More than 2 cardinal Italians are employed successful the tourer industry, astir 8% of full employment.
The bully news: the tourer concern is booming.
Business has been "crazy good," 1 taxi operator successful Bologna told me: "Since Covid, it has not stopped. Not adjacent successful winter. Tourists support coming."
A gondolier successful Venice, an hr to the north, told maine that all 433 gondoliers successful Venice were moving full-time, adjacent done the winter.
"The concern of the gondoliers has been precise bully successful the past year," helium told me, adjacent arsenic helium charged 120 euros (about $130) for a 45-minute gondola thrust successful the narrow, watery canals down St. Mark's square.
That water of tourists is greatly helped by the beingness of Americans. While Europeans, peculiarly French and Germans, marque up the largest radical of overseas visitors, Americans bash thing their European brethren don't: They extremity truly well.
"We emotion Americans," 1 waiter successful Modena said to maine aft I near him a 10% extremity for exceptional service.
For Americans, Europe successful wide but the smaller cities of Italy successful peculiar are a large value. At 1 constituent past twelvemonth the dollar was connected a par with the euro. Even today, with 1 euro astir $1.07, the continent's inactive a comparative bargain.
Prices volition beryllium higher successful the summertime precocious season, but close present you tin get a bully edifice country wrong walking region of the formation successful Rimini for 100-200 euros ($107-$214). At the celebrated Grand Hotel Rimini, built successful 1908 and the tract of respective Fellini movies, you tin mingle astatine the celebrated excavation oregon the hotel's backstage formation for $200-$400 a night, depending connected the time of the week.
On the beach, astatine the Il Circolino restaurant, you tin get a pasta people (tagliatelle al ragu —it's amazing) for 12 euros ($13) and main dishes similar chickenhearted oregon seafood similar polpo (octopus) for 15 to 22 euros ($16-$24).
These are the high-end places.
It's a bargain for Americans but, for astir Italians, adjacent those prices are retired of reach.
"Business is bully connected Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but truthful overmuch depends connected tourists," the manager of 1 edifice told me.
The problem, helium said, is that the bully beingness made celebrated by Fellini is progressively retired of scope for mean Italians.
It's each astir the taxes
"The mean Italian present makes astir 20,000 euros a twelvemonth [$21,400]," helium told me. He's apt talking astir those moving successful the work industry. An mean wage successful Italy successful 2021 was astir 29,000 euros (about $31,000), according to OECD statistics. That's inactive beneath the European Union mean of astir 33,000 euros.
But his look truly soured erstwhile helium started talking astir the contented that unites each Italian: taxes.
They are high. Very high. Italians wage 3 taxes: nationalist income taxation (including a 9.2% societal information contribution), determination taxes and municipal taxes. The income taxation complaint is progressive: The apical complaint for the income taxation is 43% — higher than the European mean of 38%.
"If an Italian pays each of their taxes they could wage implicit fractional their income to the government," the manager said arsenic helium clasped his hands unneurotic and rocked them backmost and forth, Italian for "I can't judge we're paying this much."
No wonderment truthful galore salaries are paid nether the table. Italy has a celebrated achromatic marketplace economy.
What's near to unrecorded connected is the problem. Rents successful Rimini are 550-650 euros (about $590-$700) a period for a tiny one-bedroom apartment. That is astir 40% of the take-home wage for 1 of the manager's employees.
It's small wonderment that 62% of young Italians (25-29) inactive unrecorded with their parents.
Smaller wonderment inactive that adjacent a 12-euro sheet of pasta tin consciousness a spot extravagant.
No surprise, too, that the manager said the concern progressively relies connected wealthier Germans, Brits, and Americans.
"For Americans, Italy is wonderful, but for an Italian to sojourn America, it's impossible," helium said.
Italians are leaving successful hunt of opportunities
High taxes. Low mean incomes. High ostentation (8% a year).
Life has gotten hard capable that galore young Italians are continuing to permission Italy successful hunt of opportunities elsewhere.
Five cardinal Italians are present surviving overseas.
Another large motivation: lack of occupation growth.
I had luncheon with 1 family, a pistillate and her 2 children, successful Padua, a assemblage metropolis astir an hr northwest of Rimini. Both children, ages 24 and 31, unrecorded astatine location with their mother.
The oldest has been moving successful Denmark for the past fewer years, for a bundle company. He has been visiting his family, but was going backmost to Denmark that week. His sister, who worked for a twelvemonth successful the U.S., is getting her grade successful architecture successful Venice, but admits she whitethorn privation to spell overseas to decorativeness her studies.
"I deliberation it would beryllium amended to spell abroad, to get much experience, and possibly amended occupation offers," she told me.
The bottommost line: Italy's top export, la dolce vita, is inactive live and well. The sun, the wine, the food, the fantastic people, are each inactive here.
It's conscionable getting a small much hard for the locals to partake successful that large export.
