Bars and restaurants are allowed to serve on the terrace, and also in the evening, for the first time in six months this Monday April 26, 2021 in Italy. – Cecilia Fabiano / AP / SIPA
While the head of the Italian government Mario Draghi is due to present his European Union-funded recovery plan to Parliament on Monday, bars, restaurants, cinemas and theaters are partially reopening in the country. The peninsula thus hopes to regain a semblance of normality after months of alternation between drastic closures and timid openings.
A large majority of the twenty regions are now classified in yellow, the lowest level of risk in the face of the pandemic. Bars and restaurants are allowed to serve on the terrace, and also in the evening, for the first time in six months, although the curfew starting at 10 p.m. is still in effect.
Half-full rooms
“Hopefully it will be a nice reopening and that as soon as possible, we can also serve inside”, told AFPTV Daniele Vespa, 26, head chef at the Baccano restaurant a stone’s throw from the Fountain. de Trevi, while his colleagues finally removed the chains that bound the small bistro tables to each other while waiting for better days.
Cinemas, theaters and concert halls can also accommodate the public up to 50% of their capacity. Next will be swimming pools, gyms and amusement parks by July 1.
“Return to the life before”
Mario Draghi has come under pressure from regional leaders and several protests to ease anti-Covid restrictions. The ex-president of the European Central Bank admitted he was taking a “calculated risk” as Italy continues to record an average of more than 300 deaths every day, even though contagions and the number of admissions in resuscitation decrease.
The vaccination campaign has reached a cruising speed with around 350,000 doses administered each day, however with disparities between regions. “It is clear that if the gradual reopening is interpreted as a ‘Return to the life of before’, a new peak of contagions could compromise the summer season,” warned Nino Cartabellotta, who heads the GIMBE foundation, specializing in public health issues.
GDP drop of 8.9% in 2020
Italy, the first European country hit hard by the pandemic at the start of 2020, lost nearly a million jobs and suffered a drop in its GDP of 8.9% in 2020. The third largest economy in the euro zone is therefore counting on the mega-stimulus plan adopted in July by the EU, endowed with 750 billion euros, to reinvigorate its economy. Mario Draghi must present this Monday to Parliament the details of his national plan to spend this European windfall.
Italy is the main beneficiary with 191.5 billion euros in loans and grants. A first “green light” from the European Union to the Italian recovery plan came on Saturday, Mario Draghi announced in the Council of Ministers after a telephone interview with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, according to a government spokesperson .
How the stimulus package will be used
Among the priorities listed are the renovation of aging infrastructures (highways, railways, etc.), renewable energies (hydrogen, etc.), high-speed internet and the digitization of businesses and administrations. Another objective will be to bridge the gap between the north and the south of the peninsula, while coming to the aid of young people and women, particularly affected by the current crisis.
Mario Draghi also emphasized the importance of tackling problems already present before the pandemic, such as tax fraud, bureaucracy or the slowness of justice. Disputes over the recovery plan had contributed in February to the fall of the government of Giuseppe Conte, the predecessor of Mario Draghi, who suddenly saw himself parachuted into the head of the country crowned with the image of a savior.