Culture –Culture takes centre stage during the winter holidays. Reporting on Italy in international dailies covers literature, with a profile of Paola Masino, “the writer who challenged fascism,” with her work Birth and Death of the Housewife (El Mundo, January 5 – Paola Masino y el ama de casa contra el fascismo). El Pais also covers antifascism, reporting on the staging in Barcelona of Alfredo Giraldi’s monologue Radio Libertà, a story of resistance set during the Spanish Civil War (January 9 – ‘Radio Libertà’, una tragedia griega en la Barcelona de la Guerra Civil), El Mundo reviews Elena Ferrante’s latest book, Incidental Inventions (January 9 – Elena Ferrante, el misterio de la escritora que ‘escribe’ en voz alta), while Le Monde asks writer and editor Ginevra Bompiani to take stock of the 2010s (December 28 – Ginevra Bompiani : « Nous avons appris, toutes ces années, à vivre dans un état d’exception »*).
Le Nouvel Observateur covers cinema, with an homage to Anna Magnani (December 27 – « La Passion d’Anna Magnani », il était une fois l’Italie). And while Le Monde reports on another homage, devoted to Sophia Loren by the Franco-German television network Arte (December 24 – De Naples à Hollywood, Sophia Loren sans limite*), cinema also makes the news in El Pais, with the screenwriter Steve Zillian’s choice to film a new chapter of Ripley, a TV adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith saga, in Capri (January 7 – El guionista de ‘El irlandés’ resucita a Mr. Ripley en Italia).
Luxury and sustainability – Some reporting covers luxury, such as the news that the Spanish group NH will be running the high-end Boscolo hotels, thus strengthening its position on the Italian market (Expansion, January 6 – NH firma un acuerdo con Covivio para gestionar ocho hoteles de alta gama). Other news outlets cover the “preferred trend in fashion,” sustainability, reporting that the new issue of Vogue Italia is making a “green statement” in its edition without glossy photos (The New York Times, January 2 – Italian Vogue Won’t Publish Photos This Month*; The Guardian, January 3 – Vogue Italia drops photoshoots from January issue in green statement).
Sustainability is also at the centre of the Pejo 3000 proposal: Europe’s first ski resort – The Guardian emphasizes – to go “plastic free” (December 27 – Italy creates Europe’s first plastic-free ski resort).
Wine & Food – With winter holidays, a variety of gourmet offerings appear in the international press, starting with pandoro which, according to the Expansión supplement Fuera de Serie, “is gaining more and more success in Spain” (January 3 – Pandoro, el dulce navideño de moda que quiere quitarle la corona al roscón de reyes). Also enjoying success overseas is the Italian establishment Il Buco, which has opened a new space in New York dedicated to tableware and home accessories (The New York Times, December 23 – Home Goods From Italy*). And while Der Standard suggests a recipe for pasta alla Gricia, recounting its origins in the province of Rieti (January 7 – Spaghetti alla gricia: Rustikale Pasta), in Sueddetsche Zeitung chef Franco Luise ladles out the secrets of risotto (January 8 –So gelingt ein Risotto zum Verlieben). Lastly, Le Monde covers wine with the road chosen by a cooperative in the Marche region to concentrate on alternative financing instead of bank loans to support wine production (January 3 – Le vin italien apprend à se financer sans les banques*).
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