Italys

On the lamp-lit steps of a sombre gothic church, a young woman stands before a microphone. Beside her, a man plucks a slow melody from his guitar. Arrayed on chairs and cobblestones in front of them, a large crowd sits in an expectant silence. From a nearby balcony, laundry sways in the sultry Calabrian breeze.

The guitar quickens, and the woman issues a string of tremulous notes with all the solemnity of a muezzin. She clutches a hand drum, beating out a rhythm that draws the crowd to its feet. As people surge forward, stamping and whirling around the square, the singing intensifies and the drum’s relentless thud deepens. The festival of Sustarìa has begun.

“Sustarìa is a word in the dialect of Lago,” says Cristina Muto, who co-founded the festival in summer 2020. “It is a creative restlessness, which doesn’t let you sit still.” We’re speaking at a drinks party the evening before the annual event, on a terrace overlooking Lago’s clay-tiled roofs, when her brother Daniele appears with a jug of local wine in hand. “Welcome to Lagos Angeles, Calabrifornia,” he winks, pouring me a cup.

Lago is a hilltop village in the province of Cosenza, overlooking the Mediterranean. It’s surrounded by sprawling olive groves and small plots where families cultivate figs, chestnuts and local grains. Cristina and Daniele were born and raised in this grey-stoned hamlet, a medieval outpost of the Kingdom of the Lombards. Although their pride in Lago is palpable, few of the Laghitani I meet live here all year round. Like many young people from southern Italy, they have left in search of opportunities that are scarce in Calabria.

It’s against this backdrop that Cristina co-founded Sustarìa. “The trend is longstanding and severe,” she tells me, “but people still live here, and there are communities that thrive despite the problems. If more people stay or return, things will get better.” By spotlighting the allure of the region’s heritage, she hopes to play a part in this.

With agriculture historically shaping Calabria’s economy and its inhabitants’ daily lives, many traditions have agrarian roots. The dance that erupted on the festival’s first night was the tarantella. It features distinctive footwork, with dancers kicking their heels rapidly. “It’s a dance of the field workers,” Cristina says. “Some say it began as a way to sweat out venom from spider bites during harvests; others say tired workers in need of a creative outlet danced slowly and just with their feet, and over time the pace and range of movement increased.”

The vocals on display that night told of another aspect of the region’s history: its frequent colonisation. Calabria was variously conquered by Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Normans, Arabs, Lombards and Bourbons. The folk songs we heard were replete with Greek scales and Arabic cadences, a melting pot of Mediterranean timbres.

After the concert, the crowd migrated to a field by a small waterfall on the outskirts of Lago for dinner featuring regional dishes: rosamarina (the pescatarian version of nduja, known as “Calabrian caviar” made from tiny fish); fried courgette flowers; cipolla rossa di Tropea (red onions from the popular beachtown of Tropea); and pecorino crotonese, a sheep’s cheese from the Crotone province.

Over dinner I spoke with two other festival organisers, Claudia and her husband Alberto. Claudia, a Lago native, returned permanently, after a career in aerospace engineering, to run the B&B Agriturismo Cupiglione with Alberto. Nestled in woodland a few kilometres from Lago, Cupiglione was founded 25 years ago by Claudia’s parents as a restaurant with guest rooms. After closing during the pandemic, it was renovated and reopened in 2023 as a B&B with seven rooms for up to 18 guests (doubles from €40). The change in direction paid off, and Cupiglione has since welcomed hundreds of visitors to the area, evenly split between Italian and international travellers.

During my stay, I’m lodging in a house on the edge of Lago, thanks to the Sustarìa team. Hospitality runs deep during the festival; organisers open up their homes and those of their relatives to anyone who enquires through social media. Other options abound during the festival and year-round, including B&Bs such as Cupiglione and A Casa di Ely (doubles from €60), a short walk from where I stayed.

The following afternoon, I return to the field before aperitivi, where I meet up with Cristina, who explains the growth of her initiative: “Initially, it was just locals who came to Sustarìa, but then people from other parts of Italy and even other countries started coming. Every year it grows.” This year, there are nearly 600 people in attendance.

Eric, a Londoner studying in Zurich, is one such international guest. Eric also attended Felici & Conflenti, a festival in late July hosted by friends of the Sustarìa team, which focuses on preserving and reviving the region’s ancient music. It has held 11 editions over as many years, each one featuring a winter and summer instalment, to which more people flock each year. It takes place in Conflenti, a small inland village nestled at the foot of the Reventino mountain, at the confluence of two small rivers (hence its name).

“Thanks to their work and research, instruments that were becoming extinct, like the zampogna [Italian bagpipe], are finding new life,” Cristina says.

The three of us sit chatting over plates of crisp taralli (wheat crackers) as twilight fades, and a reedy piping starts up from across the field. I stroll over, and catch sight of someone playing the zampogna, which looks like a set of bagpipes improvised from foraged materials, and is truly ancient – it counts the Roman emperor Nero among its historical admirers.

The next morning, we head to the hilltop town of Fiumefreddo Bruzio, a short drive from Lago and officially recognised as one of “Italy’s most beautiful villages”. Clinging to the western slopes of the Apennines, this medieval village offers panoramic views of the swelling coastline, which traces the Tyrrhenian Sea. Its narrow, meandering streets are lined with squat houses made of the local grey stone, quarried from the surrounding mountains. We wander around Il castello della Valle, a sprawling 13th-century Norman castle partly destroyed by Napoleonic troops, but retaining a splendid portale Rinascimentale – or Renaissance gate – still in excellent condition.

At Palazzo Rossi, on the edge of town, we take a seat at a cafe and sip local craft beer as we admire the view of the active volcano Mount Stromboli, across the water.

“You should see it in the winter,” Cristina says. “The air is cooler, so it becomes even clearer. Everything here is completely different in the winter, but most people don’t see it as visitors come mainly in the summer,” she adds with a note of regret.

The sun starts to sink into the horizon. In the square, a band starts setting up for an evening gig. A waiter brings over a plate of bread and olives to our table, on the house. “Things are quieter but not empty. There are almost as many events as in summer. And you get to see how the locals live during the rest of the year.” Cristina tears off a piece of bread. “And, of course, the hospitality never changes – people are always welcomed with open arms.”

Sustarìa will return to Lago for its sixth instalment on 1-3 August 2026. There is a winter edition of Felici & Conflenti in Calabria on 27-29 December 2025; its next summer instalment is in July 2026

Tropea in the Calabria region of Italy has recently been voted the prettiest village in the whole country

Few places can be beaten for splendour than the duomo in Florence, and turning a corner to be greeted by the Colosseum in Rome would take anyone’s breath away.

Travel to Italy and you’re never far from a spectacular sight – be that the shores of Lake Garda, which as a dyed in the wool Cumbrian even I have to admit looks like the Lake District on steroids, to the canals, gondolas and majestic cathedral of Venice, and Verona’s amphitheatre and Juliette’s balcony to the high end shops of Milan, there really is something for everyone.

But venture a little of the beaten track, and escape the hordes of tourists battling for an inch of beach in the Amalfi coast, to travel south to the untapped and undiscovered region known as Calabria and you’ll step into the ‘real Italy’ – and back in time.

One of the crown jewels of this region, which is Italy’s poorest, is the stunning medieval town of Tropea, where I was lucky enough to spend a blissful week. And it’s not just me who’s a fan, the town was recently voted the prettiest in Italy, which I think we can all agree means it was up against some stiff competition.

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Nestled into the cliffs above the Tyrrhenian Sea, this ancient town tumbles down the rock face and into the turquoise blue of the ocean.

Surrounded by stunning golden beaches with plenty of room to feel like you have them to yourself, this town has a magical dream-like quality.

Tropea has survived it all – invasions, earthquakes and bombings – to stand proud on the clifftops. Its array of noble palaces and stunning churches, all contained within the winding, cobbled streets of the old town.

I was lucky enough to spend a week in Calabria with Tropea as my base. A glorious sunny October afternoon spent strolling through its streets, with secret, hidden alleys at every turn, and sampling the delicious food from the region, including the sweet, red onions and spicy ndjua, was an utter delight.

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Stopping for one of the most delicious ice-creams I’ve ever eaten while overlooking the awe-inspiring Tyrrhenian from one of the many viewing points in this quaint little town quite simply took my breath away. Meanwhile, stopping for a crisp, white wine in an ancient tavern half way up the cliff face on my way back from the beach was the perfect way to while away a few hours.

If it’s history you’re after, then Tropea has it in bucketloads – from the cathedral to the Sanctuary of Santa Maria dell’Isola, the church on the rock, gazing out into the wide expanse of azure sea.

From the incredible viewing points, you have an amazing view of Stomboli, the still erupting volcano which lights up the night sky every evening off this part of the coast of Italy.

I have but one complaint about this undiscovered, Italian hidden gem – and that’s that I don’t live there and only got to spend a week wandering its beautiful streets.

Published on
22/10/2025 – 14:33 GMT+2

Italian banking group UniCredit has delivered a robust third quarter, underscoring its position as one of Europe’s stronger lenders.

“UniCredit delivered yet another set of record results, with net revenues up 1.2% and costs down 0.1% versus last year,” said CEO Andrea Orcel in a statement.

Net profit came in at €2.6 billion in the third quarter, up 4.7% year-on-year, and above a company estimate of €2.4bn.

Over the first nine months of the year, the bank’s net profits rose by 12.9% to €8.7bn.

“These results reflect disciplined execution, and I am confident that we will continue to build sustainable value for all stakeholders,” said Orcel.

UniCredit also reaffirmed full-year 2025 net profit guidance at €10.5bn and said it planned to distribute at least €9.5bn to shareholders.

Why this matters

In a European banking sector facing low growth, investor pressure, and regulatory hurdles, the results are significant for several reasons.

First, UniCredit’s combination of revenue growth, cost control, and low credit impairments suggests a resilience not always seen among its peers.

Second, the reaffirmation of strong guidance signals management confidence in execution through to year-end despite macroeconomic uncertainties in European and global markets.

Thirdly, the capital position and shareholder-return commitments indicate that the bank is in a position to manage risk and reward investors.

Europe’s banks are navigating reduced margins, regulatory costs, and lacklustre loan demand. Against that backdrop, UniCredit’s cost-income ratio of 37% in the quarter is a standout.

The lender also noted that its medium-term ambitions remain unchanged, standing by a net profit target of above €11 billion for the full-year 2027.

What to watch

Key to delivery will be how UniCredit handles a potential slowdown in areas such as net interest income, which fell 5.4% year-on-year in the quarter, and how it sustains its cost-efficiency edge.

The impact of wider economic weakness in Italy, Germany, and Central and Eastern Europe, all countries with strong UniCredit presence, remains a risk.

Additionally, conversion of its medium-term plans into reality will require continued disciplined execution. This is especially the case as the bank pursues strategic initiatives such as life insurance policy changes in Italy and its takeover of Commerzbank.

UniCredit has built a 26% stake in the German lender over the last year, although Orcel’s advances are facing fierce opposition from the government in Berlin.

The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express is set to journey all the way from Paris to the Amalfi Coast in Italy. Its inauguration will be on May 4, 2026. The train trundles out of the French capital for an overnight journey to Pompeii

The world’s most famous and fanciest train has announced a new route.

There are few, if any, rail operators as synonymous with opulent luxury and glamour as the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (VSOE). Close to a century and a half since the original train launched, the new service, which takes inspiration from the original, continues to wow guests.

According to Travel + Leisure, the VSOE will travel from Paris to the Amalfi Coast in Italy and will be inaugurated on May 4, 2026.

The train trundles out of the French capital for an overnight journey to Pompeii. The going is leisurely, with guests able to enjoy food and drink in the painstakingly preserved 1920s carriages. It will feature cocktails and live piano music in the train’s famed Bar Car 3674.

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Train travellers can disembark in Pompeii and explore the historic UNESCO site, which has been preserved by ash from Mount Vesuvius. Grand Suite guests can enjoy exclusive access to the rarely opened Casa del Larario Regio V, an archaeological treasure that Caruso supports through its preservation efforts.

A boat will then whisk guests to the lavish Caruso hotel in Positano for a two-night stay. The hotel is known for its history and its newly restyled La Piscina infinity pool, perched 1,000 feet above the sea.

Venice Simplon-Orient-Express general manager Pascal Deyrolle told WWD: “This journey offers guests a unique way to experience one of Italy’s most celebrated coastlines — with its cliffs, villages and sea views revealed in a way that only the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express can provide.”

Before you book any annual leave, it’s important to note one thing. The trip is not cheap. The price tag for a ticket on the Paris to Amalfi service looks to set you back a hefty £8,600.

While that may sound pretty expensive (and it is), that fee does include all meals, transfers and excursions. It’s all relative at least. The priciest route could leave you more than £60,000 lighter for the Grand Suite on a five-day expedition travelling from Istanbul to Paris.

There are other luxury trains on offer.

Luxury brand Belmond is set to launch The Britannic Explorer, offering a three-night journey through Wales this year.

Passengers boarding the Britannic Explorer are advised to pack walking shoes and a dinner jacket or cocktail dress. This is the first luxury sleeper train to operate in England and Wales, complete with an onboard spa. Guests will slumber in stunning suites, indulge in world-class dining curated by a Michelin-star chef, and partake in excursions such as hikes in the Welsh countryside, visits to a luxury pub, and clay pigeon shooting.

Prices start at £11,000, based on a double cabin for three nights, inclusive of excursions, meals, wine, and alcoholic beverages on board.

A three-night route through Wales departs from London Victoria, stopping at Llandrindod Wells and Machynlleth, via Haverfordwest, Porthmadog and Barmouth, before returning to London via the Cotswolds.

The itinerary reveals that on the first day, guests will check-in and enjoy an afternoon tea crafted by Michelin-starred chef Simon Rogan, featuring Welsh teacakes and Bara Brith, reports Wales Online.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says she has been accused of “complicity in genocide” in a complaint lodged with the International Criminal Court (ICC) over Rome’s support for Israel as it bombards Gaza.

Meloni made the statement during an interview with state television company RAI, in the first public comment on the situation, which has not been confirmed by the international court.

Meloni said Defence Minister Guido Crosetto and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani have also been “denounced”, referring to when the court is officially alerted to a possible crime. She said that she believes that Roberto Cingolani, head of Italian weapons and aerospace company Leonardo, might also have been named.

The complaint, dated October 1, was signed by some 50 people, including law professors, lawyers, and several public figures who accused Meloni and others of complicity by supplying arms to Israel, according to the AFP news agency.

“By supporting the Israeli government, particularly through the supply of lethal weapons, the Italian government has become complicit in the ongoing genocide and the extremely serious war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against the Palestinian people,” the authors of the court filing against the Italian leaders wrote.

The Palestinian advocacy group behind the complaint naming Meloni is calling for the court to assess the possibility of opening a formal investigation into the charge of genocide against the Italian prime minister, AFP also reported.

Last month, a UN Independent Inquiry found that Israel’s war on Gaza is a genocide, adding to similar assessments from a broad range of experts in human rights, genocide and international law.

The ICC has outstanding arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including starvation, murder and persecution.

However, neither Netanyahu nor Gallant has been charged with genocide specifically.

The ICC also issued arrest warrants for Hamas officials; however, those named have all since been killed in Israeli attacks.

“I don’t think there is another case in the world or in history of a complaint of this kind,” Meloni said of the complaint against her in the televised comments.

‘Major arms’ exports

According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Italy was one of only three countries to export “major conventional arms” to Israel from 2020 to 2024, although the United States and Germany were responsible for 99 percent of the exports of the larger weapons category, which include aircraft, missiles, tanks and air defence systems.

The major arms that Italy provided to Israel in this period included light helicopters and naval guns, SIPRI said. It is also one of several countries involved in making parts for F-35 fighter jets, under a US-led programme, SIPRI added.

“Concerns about the potential use of the F-35 by Israel to carry out violations of international humanitarian law have led to much criticism of transfers of the aircraft or its parts to Israel,” SIPRI said in a recent report.

Italy’s Defence Minister Guido Crosetto has said that Italy is only sending deliveries of arms to Israel under contracts signed before October 7, 2023 and that Italy has sought assurances from Israel that the weapons would not be used against civilians in Gaza, after Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani had earlier claimed Italy had stopped sending the weapons altogether.

Meloni’s acknowledgement of the complaint against her comes as hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in mass protests against Israel’s war on Gaza in recent weeks.

Italy’s major labour unions have actively supported the protests. The country’s dockworkers have threatened strike action over Israeli forces preventing the Sumud Global Flotilla from delivering aid to Gaza.

Following earlier protests, Meloni’s government sent naval ships to accompany the fleet of international vessels, but the Italian navy pulled back before Israeli forces intercepted the boats in international waters and detained close to 500 international activists.

Six crew members remained in Israeli detention as of Tuesday, according to the flotilla’s organisers.

Mounting legal challenges

The latest complaints against Italian leaders join a growing number of legal challenges to Israel’s actions in Gaza, alongside the ICC case against Netanyahu and Gallant.

At the International Court of Justice (ICJ), South Africa has submitted a case against Israel, accusing it of breaching the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.

In April this year, the ICJ ruled against pursuing a case brought by Nicaragua that accused Germany of aiding genocide in Gaza for its role in selling arms to Israel.

The US, which is the largest exporter of weapons to Israel, is not a member of the ICC.

It has also actively pushed back against the ICC pursuing charges against Israel.

Last month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the US was imposing sanctions on three Palestinian human rights organisations, Al-Haq, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, for engaging in efforts to “investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israeli nationals” at the ICC.

Italy has signed a deal with Albania, where it planned to process up to 36,000 asylum seekers per year.

The European Union’s top court has backed Italian judges who questioned a list of “safe countries” drawn up by Rome, as it prepares to deport migrants to detention centres in Albania.

The hard-right government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni denounced the European Court of Justice’s (ECJ) ruling and said it “weakens policies to combat mass illegal immigration”.

Meloni’s plan to outsource migrant processing to a non-EU country and speed up repatriations of failed asylum seekers has been followed closely by others in the bloc.

The costly scheme has been frozen for months by legal challenges.

Italian magistrates have cited the European court’s decision that EU states cannot designate an entire country as “safe” when certain regions are not.

On Friday, in a long-awaited judgement, the Luxembourg-based ECJ said Italy is free to decide which countries are “safe”, but warned that such a designation should meet strict legal standards and allow applicants and courts to access and challenge the supporting evidence.

In its statement, the ECJ said a Rome court had turned to EU judges, citing the impossibility of accessing such information and thus preventing it from “challenging and reviewing the lawfulness of such a presumption of safety”.

The ECJ also said a country might not be classified “safe” if it does not offer adequate protection to its entire population, agreeing with Italian judges that had raised this issue last year.

Meloni and her Albanian counterpart, Edi Rama, had signed a migration deal in November 2023, and last year, Rome opened two centres in Albania, where it planned to process up to 36,000 asylum seekers per year.

The detention facilities have, however, been empty for months, due to the judicial obstacles. Last week, a report found that their construction cost was seven times more than that of an equivalent centre in Italy.

Government’s approach ‘dismantled’?

The European court made its judgement considering a case of two Bangladeshi nationals who were rescued at sea by Italian authorities and taken to Albania, where their asylum claims were rejected based on Italy’s classification of Bangladesh as a “safe” country.

Dario Belluccio, a lawyer who represented one of the Bangladeshi asylum seekers at the ECJ on Friday, said the Albanian migrant camps scheme had been killed off.

“It will not be possible to continue with what the Italian government had envisioned before this decision … Technically, it seems to me that the government’s approach has been completely dismantled,” he told the Reuters news agency.

Meloni’s office complained that the EU judgement allows national judges to dictate policy on migration, “further reduc(ing) the already limited” capacity of parliament and government to take decisions on the matter.

“This is a development that should concern everybody,” it said.

Meanwhile, though the Albanian scheme is stuck in legal limbo, Italy’s overall effort to curb undocumented migration by sea has been successful.

There have been 36,557 such migrant arrivals in the year to date, slightly up from the same period of 2024, but far below the 89,165 recorded over the same time span in 2023.

Thick white cloud hangs outside the windows of Rifugio Segantini, a mountain hut 2,373 metres up in the Italian Alps. But it is shifting, revealing glimpses of the majestic Brenta Dolomites before us: a patch of snow here, a craggy peak there. The view is tantalising, and a couple of times I have run outside in a kind of peekaboo farce to see the full display, only for it to pass behind clouds again.

The refuge – cosy, wooden-clad and packed with hikers – is named after the Italian landscape painter Giovanni Segantini, who was inspired by these mountains. His portrait hangs on the walls and his name is embroidered on the lace curtains. A simple stone building with blue and white shutters in Val d’Amola, the refuge is dwarfed by its rugged surrounds, with Trentino’s highest peak, the snow-capped 3,556-metre Presanella, as a backdrop. The entries in the guestbook are entirely by locals.

For most British hikers, the eastern parts of the Dolomites, like the Tre Cime di Lavaredo and Lago di Braies, towards Cortina, are better known. Few come to Trentino, and fewer still come to this part of the Adamello Brenta nature park. This, I am told, is the wild part of these mountains: less explored, with fewer tourists, and rousing “bigger emotion”, according to my mountain guide Nicola Binelli. (He climbed Presanella for the first time when he was six.)

I’m here to sample the new Via delle Valli (the Trail of the Valleys), a network of 50 hiking routes covering 50 of Trentino’s mountain valleys, which launches this month. It runs from ski capital Madonna di Campiglio down to Lake Idro, taking in both the Brenta Dolomites and the Adamello glacier, Italy’s largest. Some are gentle family-friendly strolls; others are remote challenging climbs for which a mountain guide is recommended. Trails can be walked in a day, or strung together in a multi-day trek, making use of the area’s mountain huts (open from June to September) and bivouac shelters. But exploring the whole route is a long-term project, intended to be walked over weeks, months or even years.

These trails existed before, but they have been unified under the Via delle Valli. Their signage is being updated, maps and GPX files have been made available online, and a “Valley Passport” has been introduced, which hikers can stamp at each valley as an encouragement to return. Each valley has a local ambassador, intended to pass their love and knowledge of the area on to others.

The initiative, which has been three years in the making, is the brainchild of local tourist board manager Loredana Bonazza, who was inspired by Spain’s famous Camino de Santiago. The idea, she explains, is to tempt mountain-lovers away from the area’s hotspots, like Madonna di Campiglio and Val Genova, and towards adventures on lesser-charted trails. “Every valley is different,” she says. “We forget everything [in the mountains]: our stress, our jobs, our family problems. You really feel connected with the mountain. The result is: per scoprire; per scoprirsi. To discover; to discover yourself.”

My focus is on two contrasting valleys – the rocky, rough Val D’Amola and neighbouring verdant Val Nambrone, where we begin by exploring one of its jewels: the breathtaking (literally) Lago Vedretta, at 2,600 metres. We climb from another hut, Rifugio Cornisello (newly renovated and all timber and glass), through green alpine pastures, up over a rocky lip, where the lake appears in all its glory. The landscape remains frozen, even in late June, with sheets of ice thawing into pale blue water. You’d be forgiven for thinking it was Patagonia, rather than Italy.

There are around 100 bears in Trentino, as well as wolves, foxes, chamois, falcons and eagles. But on the way back to the refuge, where we are spending the night, we take a detour up above the turquoise Lago di Cornisello Superiore to spot fluffier mountain residents: marmots.

There are plenty of them up here, promises Debora Rambaldini, ambassador for Val Nambrone and the first woman in the area to become a forest guard. We follow her up a lush green spur dotted with wildflowers, and stand in silence, listening to the sounds of rushing water. Rambaldini puts a finger to her lips. There, a flush of reddish fur, a marmot darting between rocks, bushy tailed. And better still, another sunbathing on a rock below, eyeing us with suspicion.

The following day, we head to Val D’Amola. The route takes us around the inky Lago Nero and up over the Bocchetta de l’Om pass, backpacks fully loaded. Val D’Amola is only a few kilometres away, but it is a different world. It is more peat and bog, more Lord of the Rings. The water – grey here, not blue – thunders rather than babbles. But after lunch it’s our ascent up to Quattro Cantoni, a steep ledge and the gateway to the next valley, that reveals more of these mountains’ wild side. The cloud hangs low and thick, and apparently a storm is coming – soon. The sky rumbles above. Scrambling over rocks, tiptoeing on ledges and gingerly crossing patches of snow, the route is humbling: a reminder to improve my mountaineering skills. But safely back at Segantini, I feel elated. And the storm never comes.

At Segantini, just as we sit down for our hearty mountain dinner of polenta, the clouds finally part. Seen from Cornisello, these jagged, teeth-like Dolomites appeared pastel pink in the sunset; now, they are slate-grey, foreboding, capped with snow. They fill the whole horizon. As the sky darkens, we can see the twinkling lights of another hut, the vast Tuckett which sleeps 120 people, slowly appear on their black flanks.

I head to bed happy, and feel my heart racing with the altitude. It’s a small, six-bed dorm room, with a window that looks back towards the way we came. Occasionally, distant flashes of lightning illuminate the room, disrupting the dark and quiet. Sleeping – and waking – above 2,000 metres, though, is special. Ordinary life, below the clouds, feels a long way down. Time slows, you can only focus on the present, the company, the view. Afterwards, a little part of me will stay up here at Segantini, waiting to come back and explore more of these wild mountains and the secrets of the Via delle Valli.

The trip was provided by Trentino Marketing and the local tourist board. Dorm rooms at at Rifugio Cornisello €65 B&B or €90-€100 half-board, and €85 half-board at Rifugio Segantini. For more information about the Via delle Valli, visit campigliodolomiti.it

The fate of millions of immigrants is at stake as Italians vote in a two-day referendum that proposes to speed up the process of acquiring citizenship for foreigners who legally entered the country.

The referendum also seeks to roll back labour reforms to provide enhanced job protections.

Polling stations opened on Sunday at 7am local time (05:00 GMT), with results expected after polls close on Monday at 3pm (13:00 GMT).

The measures – backed by opposition parties, labour unions and social activists – are aimed at revising citizenship laws to help second-generation Italians born in the country, to non-European Union parents, integrate more easily.

However, the vote may fail to generate sufficient turnout to be deemed valid – a turnout of more than 50 percent is required for a referendum to be legally binding.

Ahead of this weekend’s vote, the citizenship issue has garnered plenty of attention in a nation where concerns over the scale of immigration helped propel right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s anti-migration coalition to power in late 2022. Immigration has emerged as a key issue, particularly in Western Europe as well as the United States under President Donald Trump.

So, what does the referendum propose, and what does it mean for immigrants whose lives are in limbo due to the slow process of naturalisation in the EU member nation?

What are the Italian citizenship requirements, and how many immigrants are waiting for citizenship?

The question on the ballot paper asks Italians if they back reducing the period of residence required to apply for Italian citizenship, by naturalisation, from 10 years to five.

The change proposed by the referendum would allow nearly 1.5 million foreigners to obtain citizenship immediately, according to an estimate by Idos, an Italian research centre. That would include nearly 300,000 minors, who would obtain citizenship if their parents did.

About half of Italy’s 5.4 million foreign residents could be eligible to apply for citizenship if the vote is passed.

The vote comes as Meloni has tightened citizenship laws, making it hard for resident immigrants to obtain nationality.

Currently, immigrants from countries outside the EU can apply for citizenship only after 10 years of uninterrupted residency in Italy.

What is more, the children of lawful immigrants can apply for passports only once they have turned 18 and if they have continuously lived in the country since birth.

On the other hand, generous bloodline laws allowed people of Italian descent, even if remote, to obtain citizenship, helping maintain a link with the diaspora.

Between 2016 and 2023, for instance, Italy granted citizenship to more than 98,300 people, mostly living in Latin America, based on their claims of Italian ancestry.

With Italy’s birthrate in sharp decline, economists say the country needs to attract more foreigners to boost its anaemic economy.

Francesco Galietti, from political risk firm Policy Sonar, told the Reuters news agency that keeping such rules tight was “an identity issue” for Meloni, but she was also being pushed by businesses to open up the borders of an ageing country to foreign workers.

“On the one hand, there is the cultural identity rhetoric, but on the other, there are potential problems paying pensions and an economy that relies on manufacturing, which needs workers,” Galietti said.

For context, Italy’s constitution allows citizens to repeal laws through referendums, part of the system of checks and balances devised after Benito Mussolini’s fascist rule in the 1940s.

What are the other proposals in the referendum?

The referendum seeks to make it harder to fire workers and increase compensation for those laid off by small businesses, reversing a previous law passed by a centre-left government a decade ago.

One of the questions on the ballot also addresses the urgent issue of security at work, restoring joint liability to both contractors and subcontractors for workplace injuries.

Campaigners gathered more than 4.5 million signatures, according to the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL) union, far more than needed to trigger the referendum, which will comprise five questions – four on the labour market and one on citizenship.

“We want to reverse a culture that has prioritised the interests of business over those of workers,” CGIL general secretary Maurizio Landini told the AFP news agency.

Who backed the referendum and why?

The referendum was promoted by a coalition of relatively small political parties – More Europe, Possibile, the Italian Socialist Party, the Italian Radicals and the Communist Refoundation Party – and numerous civil society associations.

It is also being backed by the centre-left Democratic Party, which is jockeying for Italian citizenship laws to be more aligned with EU-wide standards.

Research shows that access to citizenship has positive causal effects.

Immigrants who naturalise experience lower unemployment rates, earn higher incomes and are less likely to be overqualified for their jobs.

By contrast, protracted waiting periods for naturalisation delay or dampen these effects.

These findings support the claim that naturalisation is not only a reward, but also an important catalyst for integration.

The majority of Italians think that citizenship accelerates the integration process as well.

The last Eurobarometer on the integration of immigrants reports that 87 percent of Italians believe that acquiring citizenship is an important factor for the successful integration of immigrants in Italy.

Even if it passes, however, the reform will not affect the law many consider deeply unfair – that children born in Italy to foreign parents cannot request nationality until they reach 18.

Does PM Meloni back the new citizenship rules?

Opposition left-wing and centrist parties, civil society groups and a leading trade union have latched on to the issues of labour rights and Italy’s demographic woes as a way of challenging Meloni’s right-wing coalition government.

Meloni has said she would show up at the polls but not cast a ballot – a move widely criticised by the left as antidemocratic, since it will not help reach the necessary threshold to make the vote valid.

Activists and opposition parties have denounced the lack of public debate on the measures, accusing the governing centre-right coalition of trying to dampen interest in sensitive issues that directly affect immigrants and workers.

A Demopolis institute poll last month estimated turnout would be in the range of 31-39 percent among Italy’s roughly 50 million electors, well short of the required threshold.

Leaders of two of the governing coalition’s right-wing parties, Antonio Tajani of Forza Italia and Matteo Salvini of the League, have opposed the vote.

The referendum is “dangerous” and would extend access to citizenship “indiscriminately”, Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister, said in May.

How significant is the referendum?

Supporters say this reform would bring Italy’s citizenship law in line with many other European countries, promoting greater social integration for long-term residents.

It would also allow faster access to civil and political rights, such as the right to vote, eligibility for public employment and freedom of movement within the EU.

Italy is also confronting one of Europe’s most acute demographic crises.

Its population is ageing rapidly, with about a quarter of Italians aged above 65 years and just 12 percent aged 14 or younger. The referendum could ease some of these pressures.

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators have marched through the streets of the Italian capital, Rome, against the war in Gaza in a protest called by Italy’s main opposition parties, who accuse the right-wing government of being too silent.

At the start of Saturday’s march, protesters held a banner, reading: “Stop the massacre, stop complicity!”

The protest attracted a diverse crowd from across the country, including many families with children.

According to organisers, up to 300,000 people participated in the rally organised by the left-wing opposition to ask the government for a clear position on the conflict in Gaza.

“This is an enormous popular response to say enough to the massacre of Palestinians and the crimes of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s government,” the leader of Italy’s centre-left Democratic Party, Elly Schlein, told reporters at the march.

“There is another Italy that doesn’t remain silent as the Meloni government does,” she said, referring to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Meloni was recently pushed by the opposition to publicly condemn Netanyahu’s offensive in Gaza, but many observers considered her criticism too timid.

Earlier this week, the Italian leader urged Israel to immediately halt its military campaign in Gaza, saying its attacks had grown disproportionately and should be brought to an end to protect civilians.

Israel faces mounting international criticism for its offensive and pressure to let aid into Gaza during a humanitarian crisis.

Gaza has been under an Israeli blockade for nearly three months, with experts warning that many of its two million residents are at high risk of famine.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 54,772 Palestinians and wounded 125,834, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, and more than 200 were taken captive.