Representatives of Italian farmers will probably appear on the stage of the most famous Italian music festival in San Remo. They were invited by the artistic director of Amadeus himself, and they are supported by, among others: Al Bano, Italian musician known for the hit Felicità, sung in a duet with Romina Power.
Farmers protesting in Poland may envy such support. According to the event director, farmers’ representatives will be invited to the stage during the 74th Italian song festival in San Remo, which is iconic in Italy and runs from today to Saturday.
Alessandra Oldoni, one of the protesting farmers, explains that farmers will probably appear in San Remo on Thursday. – We’ll see when exactly Amadeus will invite us, we are in contact with him. We will go to San Remo with a group of 20 tractors, but our delegation will appear on the stage: three or four people, she said.
Farmers’ protest in Italy
Farmers’ protests in Italy have been going on since last week. Farmers oppose excessive bureaucracy and cheap imports of agri-food products from outside the European Union. On Monday, February 6, convoys of tractors reached the outskirts of Rome. Farmers are gathering on the outskirts of the Eternal City in anticipation of further protest actions. In Milan, the city of Italian finance and luxury, farmers took their cows to a protest… They took a walk with their muffins in front of the headquarters of the Lombardy authorities. Also in Tuscany, farmers took to the roads with slogans opposing EU policy.
Italian farmers share many of the demands expressed by farmers from other EU countries. In the wake of agricultural protests over the past few weeks, they complain that their products are being displaced by cheaper ones imported from areas outside the European Union, such as North Africa. In addition, there are increasingly higher production costs, including: rising fuel prices and EU restrictions resulting from agricultural and climate policy. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Italy had done more than some EU neighbors to support its farmers but was open to talks.
Al Bano: Farmers’ protest is a sacred thing
Farmer protests in Italy are organized by many individual groups rather than the main Italian agricultural association Coldiretti, which has close ties with the government. However, not only the director of the San Remo festivals announced support for their demands, but also, among others, singer Al Bano.
– I feel like a farmer (…). I hope that the European Union and Italy will open their eyes to the dramatic situation we find ourselves in. This is evidenced by the accounts from my 150-hectare farm, which I could show to those in power in Brussels. If I wasn’t a singer, if I didn’t perform concerts, I would be a starving farmer. It’s frustrating how many farms in my native Puglia have to close down – he adds.
Al Bano notes that he would like those who legislate from behind their desks, who know nothing about agriculture, to come and work on his farm, and adds: If I have time, maybe I will come to Rome next week. With a tractor!
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