Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has launched a fierce attack on opposition parties, accusing them of harming Italy’s image and interests by spreading “false news” about a tourism crisis. Targeting “certain opposition forces, including [Democratic Party leader] Elly Schlein,” Meloni stated: “To attack the Government, they damage Italy’s image and interests.” She asserted that “those who truly love their nation do not discredit it before the world for political expediency.” Her remarks reignite a debate over Italy’s tourism sector, which the left views as evidence of a severe economic downturn hitting Italian families hard.
Meloni denounced as “shameful” Schlein’s recent suggestion that Italian tourism is in crisis, citing “official data from the Interior Ministry (Viminale)” showing “the exact opposite, with arrivals growing and millions of visitors in our hospitality facilities.” The Premier dismissed the criticism as “orchestrated distortions and falsehoods,” countered by “the numbers and the truth.”
Schlein rejected Meloni’s data, countering with claims from the beach operators’ union reporting a 15% drop in visitors and consumer group Altroconsumo citing a 34% rise in costs. “Instead of responding to me,” Schlein challenged, “Meloni should answer to those Italian families whose wages are too low for a vacation, while her government blocks a minimum wage and does nothing against Europe’s highest energy bills.”
Five Star Movement leader Giuseppe Conte mocked a Meloni “straight from Mars” who “says everything is fine” while “price hikes run rampant, fiscal pressure increases, and families’ real income collapses.” Conte also derided celebrations marking the government’s 1,024 days in office, noting that while “they form conga lines at Palazzo Chigi,” the state social security agency INPS authorized around 314 million hours of state-subsidized temporary layoffs in the year’s first six months.
Democratic Party economic spokesperson Antonio Misiani suggested Meloni’s “holidays in Greece have further widened her detachment from Italian reality,” likening her accusations to tactics used “only in North Korea” against those citing objectively negative data to pressure the government. Left-wing SI party leader Nicola Fratoianni claimed “the Prime Minister lives on the moon” and uses a predictable script: triggering “victimhood” when anyone notes “our beaches are empty because Italians are struggling economically,” instead of offering “concrete actions.”
Fratelli d’Italia (FdI) Senate leader Lucio Malan defended the government, citing Italy’s “absolute employment record,” wages growing faster than inflation for the first time in years, and inflation falling from Europe’s highest to among its lowest. Arianna Meloni, the Premier’s sister and FdI political secretary, celebrated the government’s stability and “tangible results,” pledging to push forward “with even greater commitment and passion.”
Former PM Matteo Renzi offered a caustic comment: “Has she surpassed me? Hurray, we’re becoming a stable country… but does anyone remember a single reform by this government? Because many remember mine, perhaps too many.”
© Copyright ANSA