Italy issues ‘yellow’ weather warning for Campania region 

The whole of Campania was under a ‘yellow’ weather warning on Friday as heavy rainfall was expected in the southern region.   

Campania’s Civil Protection Department said on Thursday that the weather alert had been issued based on risks “of flooding, rise in waterways’ levels, water flow on roads, […] rockfall, and landslides”.

A yellow-coded warning is the least severe type of alert under Italy’s weather alert system, but still indicates some level of risk related to possible flooding incidents affecting underpasses, tunnels, and basement-level structures as well as roads and railway lines.

The weather alert was set to be lifted at midnight on Friday, though an extension could not be ruled out at the time of writing.

Italian activist held in Hungary to run in EU elections 

Italian antifascist activist Ilaria Salis will be a candidate for Italy’s left-wing Greens and Left Alliance (Alleanza Verdi Sinistra, AVS) in June’s European elections, the AVS party said on Thursday evening. 

AVS leaders Nicola Fratoianni and Angelo Bonelli said in a statement that they hoped Salis’s candidacy would “reaffirm the inviolability of fundamental human rights across all of the [European Union’s] territory and in each of its member states”.

Salis, aged 39, from Milan, has been held in a maximum security prison in Budapest for 13 months on suspicion of having assaulted two far-right militants during commemorations for a World War II Nazi regiment in February 2023 – a charge she has pleaded not guilty to. 

Footage of Salis appearing in court in shackles sparked widespread outrage in Italy in late January, with figures from both sides of the political spectrum protesting against her detention conditions.

Italy to welcome close to 66 million tourists this summer, new report says

Italy will welcome some 65.8 million tourists this summer – up by 2.1 percent compared to last summer – forecasts from Italian research institute Demoskopika said on Thursday. 

Of those, some 35.5 million people will be foreign nationals, up by 5 percent compared to summer 2023, the report said.

Tourism Minister Daniela Santanche’ expressed satisfaction over the forecasts, saying that the latest projections confirm “how Italy continues to be a sought-after destination” and testify to industry operators’ “resilience”. 

Italy saw one of its best years for tourism in 2023, with a record-breaking number of passengers passing through the country’s airports.

State-run museums to open for free on Liberation Day

State-run museums and archaeological sites will open to visitors for free on Thursday, April 25th as part of celebrations for Italy’s Liberation Day public holiday, Italy’s Culture Ministry said on Thursday. 

Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano said that April 25th will once again be one of three national holidays where visiting state-run sites will be free of charge this year, with the other two being June 2nd (Republic Day) and November 4th (National Unity Day). 

The initiative aims to “associate highly symbolic occasions for the country with visiting places of culture,” Sangiuliano said.

Liberation Day, which celebrates the fall of the Fascist regime and the end of German occupation in April 1945, is one of Italy’s most heartfelt national observances and is generally marked by a number of official ceremonies and nationwide marches featuring renditions of the Bella Ciao anthem.