Those who this summer want to beat the night heat with a cone or a bottle of water in the center of Milan will have to change their minds. The city council of the Italian economic capital has just announced drastic regulations to help residents rest better during the heavy summer nights. To counteract the noise caused by small crowds of people at dawn, the mayor, Giuseppe Sala, has decided that businesses will not be able to sell takeaway food or drinks – both alcoholic and non-alcoholic – starting at midnight. A controversial measure that also includes both pizza and the famous Italian ice cream, something that has put merchants and defenders of one of the great traditions of families in this country on a war footing.
The ordinance will begin to be applied on May 17 until at least November 19. On weekdays, the curfew will begin at midnight and last until six in the morning. On Friday and Saturday nights they will be somewhat more permissive, and bars or ice cream parlors will be able to continue selling these products until half past one in the morning. All in twelve delimited and central areas of the city where residents are fed up with the noise of pedestrians and have been protesting in front of City Hall for years. Including, for example, the popular areas of Brera, Darsena, Arco della Pace or Lazzareto, or the busy streets of Corso Como and Corso Garibaldi.
The objective, according to the security councilor, Marco Granelli, is to find a “balance” between fun, the tranquility of the residents and the economic activities of the merchants. “The City Council wants to act in the most critical areas and in the most active period, working on those external activities that have the greatest impact on noise, the ease of use of pedestrian crossings or access to houses,” said the municipal representative. on their social networks.
The measure has caused a strong controversy and many are already asking the mayor to reconsider. Among them, the general secretary of Confcommercio in Milan, Marco Barbieri, who sees it as nonsense. “If this ends up being like this, with 30 degrees in June, July and August, anyone who wants to buy a bottle of water will find it impossible,” he tells this newspaper on the phone. “In summer, as in many Spanish cities, it is tradition to finish dinner late with family or groups of friends. Now parents who are going to have a pizza for dinner with their children will have to run to buy the ice cream before midnight so they can take it while walking back home calmly,” protests Barbieri, who represents a union organization for commerce, cars and local services. .
Opponents of the municipal ordinance believe that to limit nighttime disturbances it would be more rational to prohibit eating food in defined areas close to residential buildings, something more difficult because it would imply greater controls. They also think that, in the end, it will be of little use, because those who want to continue consuming will be able to purchase pizzas or drinks in other more distant stores, which would penalize those in the center. “This means that one cannot buy an ice cream or a sandwich and at the same time take a walk along the Navigli canals. It doesn't make sense,” Barbieri insists.
Given these arguments, the mayor has invited Barbieri to go to his office to see first-hand the “hundreds of complaints from residents asking to sleep better at night.” “We are not changing the rules of the universe but putting very light limits,” Sala justified. “There may be many formulas, we have identified one and we are willing to change it even over time, but in the meantime this year we will do it this way because complaints from citizens have skyrocketed,” he insisted.
Sala seems willing to back down on one thing, ice cream, and has already said that he is open to “talking” about it. It wouldn't be the first time, because in 2013, another mayor, Giuliano Pisapia, tried to ban ice cream after midnight. After huge protests organized by ice cream advocates – including the Occupy Gelato movement – he had no choice but to back down.
