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ITALIAN TRADITIONS

Red underwear and smashed plates: Six strange Italian New Year traditions

The Italians have a reputation for being a superstitious bunch, and some of their New Year customs can startle the uninitiated foreigner. From the correct underwear to smashing crockery, The Local looks at the stories behind Italy's strangest New Year traditions.

Red underwear and smashed plates: Six strange Italian New Year traditions
Italian New Year is full of superstitions. Photo by Andrea Marcheschi on Unsplash

They wear red underwear for the occasion

Whether you’ve got a date for your New Year’s Eve party or not, you need to put some extra thought into your undergarments. Red underwear will apparently help to fend off evil spirits and negativity, bringing you happiness in the coming year.

A study carried out by the Italian drinks company San Pellegrino revealed that 60 percent of Italians think the custom is linked to fertility or good luck in your sexual endeavours, but it is actually much more general. The colour red has been used for centuries to ward off war and other disasters. You might even see red underwear hanging in the streets or shop windows during the lead-up to New Year.

However, it’s traditional that your capodanno underwear should be new and a gift from someone else, so no digging out a tattered pair of red pants, and if you buy your own, you’re cheating. 

The food: lentils, sausage and grapes

This is Italy, so food is of paramount importance, and although the traditional New Year’s menu might seem like a random selection of foodstuffs, it’s actually carefully thought through.

Lentils symbolize wealth and prosperity – either because their round, flat shape and golden brown colour means they resemble gold coins, or because they are long-lasting and so represent longevity.

Then you’ve got the sausage meat, replaced in some parts of Italy by stuffed pig’s trotters, which again means good fortune for the coming year, because it is a rich food symbolizing abundance.

But don’t forget to finish your meal with grapes. These ensure you will be frugal with your new-found wealth, because it was thought that only someone with excellent willpower could save the grapes from the spring harvest time until the New Year meal.

They spend the evening playing bingo

In many parts of the world, card games and bingo are associated more with pensioners than trendy parties, but at many Italian New Year’s Eve parties everyone settles around the table for a game of ‘tombola’ – similar to bingo. 

Tombola was created in Naples in the 1700s as an alternative to gambling, which the church did not approve of. King Charles of Naples made a concession to the Catholics and said he would ban gambling during the Christmas period only. But Neopolitans found a way to get around the new law by playing tombola at home during the holidays. 

They party until sunrise

Italians don’t do things by halves, and though you may be used to New Year celebrations fizzling out shortly after midnight, be prepared to keep the party going until the early morning. In Italy the celebrations usually last until at least sunrise, so that you can see the new year arrive.

They throw things 

Watch out for falling objects – in some southern parts of the country, it’s traditional to throw possessions, particularly crockery, out of your window to show that you are ready for a new start in the new year.

If you’d rather that new start didn’t involve arguments with the neighbours about why you chucked a plate at their head in the middle of the night, an alternative tradition is crashing pots and pans together at your front door, to frighten away evil spirits (see below).

They love a big bang (with a purpose)

True, this New Year custom isn’t unique to Italy, but while other nationalities may simply enjoy the bright colours, Italians have a different reason for setting off fireworks.

According to superstition, demons and bad spirits don’t like loud noises, so this a way to ensure they’re all scared off before the new year begins. Some people even say the pop of champagne corks is the reason prosecco or spumante are favoured over normal wines – well, it’s as good an excuse as any for a glass of fizz.

You’ll have your future mapped out (so avoid babies, doctors and priests)

Superstition dictates that the first person you meet after midnight on New Year will dictate how the rest of the year plays out. If you see someone older of the opposite sex first, congratulations, you’re going to have a great new year (it’s a sign that you will live a long life and be lucky in love this year).

If it’s a baby or someone of the same sex, your year hasn’t got off to the best start. Variations on this legend state doctors are a bad omen too, because it’s a sign your health will deteriorate, while others say you should be wary of seeing a priest or a postman, though the reasons behind this aren’t clear.

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ITALIAN TRADITIONS

ANALYSIS: How Catholic is Italy really?

As Rome prepares to host the 2025 Jubilee, interest in Catholicism is declining in the country - but is the church still inextricably linked to Italian culture?

ANALYSIS: How Catholic is Italy really?

Italy is frequently described in news reports as an overwhelmingly Catholic country. And some 80 percent of Italians identify as Christian, according to the latest data from the Pew Research Center. Of those, 50 percent say they regularly attend church – the highest percentage in Western Europe.

But while this data confirms Christianity as prevalent in Italy, it fails to illustrate the generational gaps: according to another survey conducted by Ipsos in 2023, younger Italians born between 1997 and 2012 (which the survey’s authors label ‘Gen Zers’) are 21 percent less likely to be religious than those born between 1946 and 1964 (labelled ‘Boomers’ in the survey.)

The Ipsos survey also found an increase in young Italians believing in a “higher power” as opposed to a specific deity.

The trend of youth not identifying as Catholic should not come as a shock. Over the years, there have been a number of signs pointing to a decline in Catholicism in Italy, including a 16.5 percent decrease in priests being ordained between 1990 and 2020, civil ceremonies becoming more popular than church weddings in northern regions, and only 19 percent of Italy’s practising Catholics attending church weekly.

Theologian and author Don Matteo Armando said last year that the link between the Church and younger generations was as weak as ever in history.

“Certainly the greatest evidence regarding the findings of religious sentiment among Italians is highlighted in the growing indifference and detachment of younger generations with respect to Catholicism and Christianity,” he said in an interview with Il Mattino.

Italy is a secular state by law. At no point does Italy’s constitution indicate Catholicism as the national religion. In fact, it even goes one step further and promotes religious freedom under Article 19. There is no Church of Italy like there is a Church of England. The state’s religion is not Catholicism.

READ ALSO: Pope addresses growing conflict within the church 

But does legislation necessarily reflect social behaviour, traditions, and customs?

There is of course a long Catholic history in the country. Italy’s first constitution, the Albertine Statute, laid out Catholicism as the national religion. What’s more, senators have in recent years questioned the clarity of the current constitution in defining what ‘secular’ means, claiming that France’s constitution outlines secularism in a clearer way. 

And while the constitution states that laws must be secular, blasphemy remains an offence: fines of up to €309 are in place, though they are not handed out frequently.

An empty church in Italy. Photo by AFP/ Alberto Pizzoli.

Italy’s current prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, also identifies as a Catholic. During her election campaign in 2022 she declared: “I am a woman, I am a mother, I am a Christian.” The last part of this sentence, which was reported in newspapers worldwide, does not exactly scream secular constitution.

Meanwhile, it is not unusual to see crucifixes on the walls of public offices such as police stations or town halls. Saints’ days such as Santa Lucia, Santo Stefano, and All Saints are also extremely popular and some of them are public holidays. 

It is also important to note the north-south divide: people in Italy’s southern regions say they go to church far more frequently than those in the south. According to data from Italian statistics bureau Istat, 46.8 percent of people in Tuscany said they hadn’t been to church at all in the previous year, compared to only 17.5 percent in Campania.

READ ALSO: Pope warns Italy’s priests to stop charging for weddings and funerals

Overall, 16.4 percent of people in central Italy and 18.8 percent of people from the north said they went to church once a week. In the south, the figure was 23.2.

While the Istat data doesn’t distinguish between Catholics and other Christian denominations such as Protestants, other Christian denominations account for only 4 percent of Italy’s religious composition.

This north-south divide here is generally thought to be down to a number of reasons, including family traditions, and historical cultural differences, but one theory is that it’s due to the north and centre being closer to mainland Europe and therefore other religions and cultures.

When looking at law alone, Italy is not a Catholic country. But when analysing society, it is. There are rare occasions when the two match up, such as with public blasphemy laws. Perhaps this apparent contradiction isn’t surprising when we consider that the Vatican City towers over and sits within the beating heart of Rome.

Either way, one thing stands out: Italy’s younger generations are less interested in Catholicism than ever before.

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