Economy – Economy takes centre stage in the reports dedicated to Italy this week by the foreign press. Bloomberg covers Confindustria’s forecasts predicting 6.4% GDP growth for this year (November 27 – Italian Economy May Grow 6.4% This Year, Confindustria Says*), while Die Welt reports the “euphoria” over “Italy’s successes in various sectors” and the stability of the political situation (November 29 – Euphorie und EU-Mittel – der Höhenflug von „Super Mario“). Meanwhile, Reuters focuses on investments by certain companies, starting with Snam which is staking up to 23 billion on green infrastructure for hydrogen storage at sites currently reserved for gas (November 29 – Snam eyes 23 bln euro investments to speed green drive) and buying a stake in the Algerian network, looking to “pave the way for hydrogen imports from Africa into Europe” (November 27 – Snam buys stake in Algerian gas pipelines to pave way for hydrogen highway). Reuters also covers the raising of more than € 500 million by the asset management firm Nextalia (November 26 – Italy’s Nextalia raises $635 mln in first close of new private equity fund), while the Spanish Cinco Dias recounts the investment by the Azora real estate fund in the hotel company Bluserena, which was sold by the Maresca family (November 30 – Azora compra la hotelera italiana Bluserena, con 4.200 camas).
Acquisitions are also being made in Italy by Sirail, which has purchased IGM to grow in the railway cable sector (Les Echos, November 29 – Ferroviaire : Sirail acquiert l’italien IGM pour diversifier ses clients*). The French daily also discusses the future of family enterprises in Italian fashion, generational turnover, and the “ability to perpetuate and hand down the skills” that allow this sector to “dominate the market with the big names in the luxury sector” (November 26 – La mode à l’italienne, une affaire de famille*).
The Guardian also focuses on the entrepreneurial stories of refugees, with an article devoted to the successful businesses that some of them have built in Naples (November 29 – ‘I feel inspired here’: refugees find business success in Naples)
Culture – In culture, El Mundo reviews the book that the historian Antonio Forcellino has dedicated to the “secrets of the Sistine Chapel,” recounting the “artistic enterprise” behind a “nearly divine work” (November 30 – Los secretos de la Capilla Sixtina: conspiraciones, poder y censura tras una obra casi divina), and joins Paolo Sorrentino on the streets of Naples, telling the city’s story through his latest film The Hand of God (November 26 – Un paseo con Paolo Sorrentino por Nápoles de la mano de Maradona). El País, in its Icon supplement, also publishes an in-depth interview with the director (December 2 – Paolo Sorrentino: “Ahora estoy en una posición maravillosa: la gente viene a ofrecerme dinero y yo lo rechazo”); the daily then reports on the career honour bestowed upon Giuseppe Piccioni during the gala evening of the fourteenth edition of the Madrid Italian Film Festival (November 27 – Giuseppe Piccioni: “He superado la fase de director capullo, ahora me toca ser venerado como un maestro”). Meanwhile, El País discusses the introduction in various European countries of ITsART, the “streaming platform that brings millennia of Italian culture together on a single screen” (November 29 – ITsART: la nueva plataforma de ‘streaming’ que une milenios de cultura italiana en una misma pantalla), and devotes an article to the art of Hugo Pratt and his Corto Maltese, “a symbol of the free world,” being published in Spain with new works (November 26 – La aventura interminable de Corto Maltés).
Lastly, in theatre, Le Monde reviews the Otello staged at Teatro di San Carlo in Madrid (November 26 – Au San Carlo de Naples, le ténor Jonas Kaufmann campe idéalement un Otello aux pieds d’argile face à une Desdemona guerrière*).
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