«If you go to a 5-star hotel, then you don’t incite the people of income»- Corriere.it

When it is not taken by storm, Cortina does not reach six thousand inhabitants. But when the Tofane fanatics arrive en masse, on August 15th as well as for the Christmas holidays, between hotels, villas and private houses, the number of visitors is close to sixty thousand. In short, the inhabitants increased tenfold in a flash. And this year, after a pandemic that didn’t seem to end, the queen of the Dolomites was sold out, so much so that more than one VIP was left without a table in the chicest restaurants.

The rumor had also spread that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a great lover of downhill skiing, was arriving with her daughter and partner, but the wait was disappointed. Inevitable, however, the two best-known party comrades: Daniela Santanche and Ignatius LaRussa, who own two splendid villas in Cortina. For the Minister of Tourism it was a longer vacation, for the President of the Senate almost a hit and run, called back to Rome by the institutional agenda due to the death of Benedict XVI.

However, the unexpected presence of Giuseppe Conte together with his partner Olivia Paladino took the stage in the councils that mix politics, high finance, entrepreneurship and the world of entertainment. The former prime minister stayed in the luxurious Savoia hotel, with suites costing up to 2,500 euros a night. Dagospia has published more than one photo: “Since he became a true leader of the left, from a people’s lawyer he has transformed into an extra-luxury viveur,” commented the gossip site. The shots ended up being fed to social networks and a storm ensued, centered on the theme: “Pauperist yes, pauperist no”. By chance, Matteo Renzi was also present in Cortina this year. The former prime minister, forced by his wife Agnese to ski as early as 8.30, is said not to have had great late nights. But during one of the VIP dinners, teased by the images of his archenemy Conte, he would have made more or less this reflection: «It is legitimate to go to 5-star hotels. What is not legitimate is playing on people’s anger by inciting the people of basic income against the other politicians who go to 5-star hotels. This is moralism without morals.” But the duel is not limited to pauperism, also because Renzi is about to file a lawsuit with a civil claim for damages against Conte for some “totally false” statements on the use of private jets by the leader of Italia viva.

The mouths of many other VIPs from Cortina are sealed: «Conte? I have no comment to make », he replies on the phone Guido Barilla, whose family has always been at home in Cortina. Ditto from Mario Moretti Polegato, owner of Geox. However, a joke is given to you by mister Arrigo Sacchi: «If you’re on the left and you go to Cortina they say something. If you’re right maybe they don’t say it. Conte, until now, is a bit wavering. A little to the right, a little to the left, then right again then left. Ours is a country that struggles to maintain consistency».

Instead, it eases tensions the mayor (civic) Gianluca Lorenzi: “With you? Everyone is free to do what he wants. We’ve had ministers, parliamentarians, it’s certainly not me who has to tell them where to go. What interests me is that politics has returned to Cortina». Even the TV presenter Michele Mirabella, a great friend of Cortina, marvels at the clamor: «The ex prime minister is free to do what he likes, in the end he went to a hotel, nothing more. It is a completely useless rhetorical moralism, like the controversy over the luxury bag that Bersani gave to his wife ».