60% Italians think home buying is best investment
14.1% Italians currently interested in buying homes
+17% home price increase (1999-2001)
Casa dolce casa. Italians are increasingly more afflicted by "brick fever" (la febbre del mattone), and national statistics institute Censis predicts the frenzy will last until 2004. Some 800,000 Italians bought homes last year, causing a price increase of about eight percent. Inhabitants of the Bel Paese were less interested in investments considered riskier, like stocks, which dropped by 5.9% in 2001. More than half of all Italians, 67.6%, live in a home they own and only 22% are renters.

Restoring a Home in Italy
Live the dream of owning an home in Italy….

36% believe heroes exist in real life
17% believe heroes exist only in comic books
36% proclaim Carabinieri their heroes
27% proclaim firemen their heroes

At last, Italy’s Carabinieri get some respect: a poll of 1,024 youngsters between 8 and 18 years old named them ‘heroes,’ beating out comic book legends like Superman, celluloid stars and even firemen. The Carabinieri Corps, created by King Vittorio Emanuele I in 1814, have been the butt of jokes in Italy probably just about as long. Credited with a legendary — though unproved — stupidity, the place of Italy’s paramilitary police in jokes might be likened to that of Irish in English jokes or Poles in American jokes.
"They seek figures from everyday life, young people aren’t interested a imaginary super heroes with unrealistic special powers," said Raffaele Morelli, psychologist. "They’re looking for some one to look up to, perhaps find the heroic spirit within themselves. It’s easier to identify with a Carabinieri." Some 23% of those interviewed by Eta Meta said, in fact, they consider film and comic book heroes "outdated" and "a joke."

www.jokes-online.com/cgibin/joke.cgi?&c=5&s=1
Some 331 jokes featuring Carabinieri–some even submitted by corps members…

City officials in Florence have extended purse-snatch-protection insurance to city residents and visitors. The insurance was previously available only to senior citizens, many of whom became victims after picking up pensions from post offices. “After a young Turkish tourist fractured her leg during a purse snatching, we thought it right to extend the policy to younger people and tourists,” explains Stefano Filucchi head of Florence’s “safe city” initiative.

For foreigners, the policy set up by insurer Meie provides transfer to the appropriate hospital and up to e. 260 ($230) for necessities and assistance/expenses to replace lost documents. In the case of car theft, insurees are provided with a rental car for three days and tickets home for all of the passengers. Filucchi maintains, however, that Florence’s so-called ‘micro-criminality’ is no means for alarm. “We don’t want to make people paranoid,” he says. “But we do want to watch out for visitors and residents.”

Related resources:
www.fco.gov.uk/travel/countryadvice.asp?IT
More on personal safety in Italy…

The survival of hard-core soccer fans (known as ultr?) is a new discipline, up til now advice was given out about how survive their angry outbursts.
Italy’s new anti-violence law for soccer stadiums has apparently so threatened their livelihood they had to come up with an manual telling how to get around it.

The new law, approved in October of last year, came about after hard-core Inter fans hurled a scooter from the stands onto rival Atalanta rooters during a match.Under the package of measures, modeled after similar laws in Britain and France, fans who throw objects in the stadium face three to six months in jail and those who storm the field can be jailed for up to six months.
"20 years of increasingly stringent laws have not stopped violence in stadiums," recites the hooligan handbook. "In fact, it’s just decreased attendance. And there’s nothing worse than a game played without fans." The handbook goes on to inform fans of their rights (remember: smoke bombs and fireworks cannot be considered explosives) and how to take legal action unjust fines or against overzealous police. The ultrà survival manual, distributed free outside stadiums, will probably not do a whole lot to promote warm feelings between authorities and fans.

Related resources:
Fanatics! : Power, Identity and Fandom in Soccer

Italy’s first thermal baths for dogs and cats will open in time for Easter vacations. The idea for animal pampering comes from entrepreneur Leandro Gualtieri, who insists that it is not a new idea, but the revival of an old tradition. “Evidence of pet thermal baths dates back 2,000 years, ” said Gualtieri, whose Jack Russell terriers Biago and Berta will likely be the first patrons. “In the Roman baths here in San Casciano, they cured arthritis and circulatory problems in animals, so it’s really nothing new.” Pets will be placed in specially-designed tubs, next to where owners soak in the warm suphorous waters. The medieval village of San Casciano dei Bagni, in the province of Siena, boasts 42 different springs.

www.comune.sancascianodeibagni.siena.it
The city’s official site…

Residents of polluted cities in Northern Italy are the target of discounts aimed at bringing their overworked lungs to cleaner Liguria.

"We’ve got plenty of fresh air here on the coast," said Sandro Biasotti, president of the region of Liguria. "It’s our duty to encourage people from nearby areas a way out of polluted cities."

Lack of rain has sent pollution levels soaring throughout Italy over the last two weeks. Milan, Turin and Gorizia topped the list of the most polluted Italian cities–medical experts likened a day in Milan’s haze to smoking 15 cigarettes.
Measures to reduce smog from traffic include no-car Sundays and access to cities through an alternating license plate scheme.

www.inliguria.liguriainrete.it
details and free phone….

Residents in Northern Italy can now pick up pepper spray for personal defense, next to the toothpaste and bandages, from a national supermarket chain.
In recent years, crime has become the main worry for 37% of Italians, taking priority over unemployment, drug abuse and immigration. That figure, however, jumps to 48% in the North-East of Italy–hence the marketing ploy.The product, called “Fermo!” (Stop!), debuted in the Como area for a trial two-week run.
“The decision to carry the product in supermarkets is based on consumer demand,” said a press release from marketing company Di.tex.al. “There are no legal barriers to selling it in chain stores and the instructions underline the importance of using it only for personal defense.” A squirt of Fermo, which retails for e.13, 99 (around $15), can render an adult “out of order” for several minutes. There is no age limit for sales of the product, made from hot cayenne peppers. Pepper spray, legal in Italy since 1998, was previously only sold in specialty stores.

Beware anti-smoking patrols: the Italian government unleashed inspectors in Milan, Turin, Rome, Naples and Palermo found them infested with smokers flouting regulations.*
While inspections of hospitals in Rome turned up few in flagrante smokers (16 out 159 checks), Naples is a smokers free-for-all: in addition to dismal hospital statistics, some 47 movie goers were fined for smoking inside cinemas.

Smoking was banned in public places (hospitals, theaters, schools, nightclubs and on public transportation) in 1975, but public authorities have rarely enforced regulations. The measly fine was not exactly a deterrent–but recently fines were hiked (euro 25 to 250 about $22-222) and so have inspections.
In an effort encourage an unheard of snitching on smokers, the government has set up a toll-free number to report smoking violations: 800.998877

http://localisenzafumo.monrif.net
Small but useful database of Italy’s non-smoking restaurants….

*The stats:

701 checks for smokers, Italy wide
372 smoking fines, Italy wide
143 checks for smokers, hospitals (Naples)
198 smoking fines, hospitals (Naples)

Italians will soon be able to unleash their legendary creativity on license plates. Billed by local media as “American-style plates,” the Bel Paese version is, of course, a bit more complicated –plates must keep the combination of two letters, three numbers, two letters. The example held out for the TV cameras was practically incomprehensible- LU 267 CA- or rather “Luca,” born in February, 1967.
The change was announced as part of the new driving regulations, which also raises autostrada speed limits in good driving conditions to 150 kph (93 mph), requires driving school for scooterists under 18 and initiates a point system for driving infractions.
The package of new road rules go into effect January 2003.