Loud, boozy bars spilling out onto the crowded streets. Take-away alcohol consumed by drunk tourists and students. A deafening sound erupted long after midnight in the once-quiet residential area.
When Milan authorities years ago embarked on a plan to promote the city as a bustling destination, boosting its reputation as Italy's capital of fashion and design, the resulting noise and rowdy overcrowding , which was probably quite different from what they had in mind.
After years of complaints and a series of lawsuits, the city has now passed an ordinance that severely restricts the sale of take-out food and drinks after midnight (and not so late on weekends) in areas called “movida,” the Spanish term for Italians. was approved. It was adopted to represent outdoor nightlife. It will take effect next week and remain in place until November 11th.
Outdoor seating at restaurants and bars will also end at 12:30 a.m. on weekdays and an hour later on weekends, so those who want to party longer will have to do it indoors.
Companies that have benefited from Milan's status as a cutting-edge city are complaining.
One industry group complained that the ordinance was so strict that it would prevent Italians from taking late-night walks with gelato in hand.
Marco Granelli, a member of Milan's city council responsible for security, said these concerns were overblown. Eating gelato on the spot is fine, he says.
He said the ordinance was aimed at addressing “acts that affect residential areas” and take-home alcoholic beverages, which are seen as the main reason late-night revelers linger in certain streets and squares. It is said that there is. “It's clear that ice cream, pizza and brioche don't cause overcrowding,” he says.
Marco Barbieri, secretary general of the Italian retailer's association Concomercio's Milan branch, said his group would fight the ordinance, which he said would affect about 30 percent of the city's 10,000 restaurants and bars. I'm guessing. He said the new rules would penalize retailers for bad customer behavior.
But residents have been complaining about Milan's nightlife for some time.
“It's a nightmare,” said Gabriela Varacina of the Navigli committee. The Navigli Committee is one of several civil society organizations set up to deal with the growing population and decibel levels in Milan's historic centre.
She outlined a list of complaints. Noise pollution (peaks at 87 decibels, far exceeding the 55 decibels allowed by municipal limits). The streets are so crowded with revelers that it is difficult to walk or even reach the front door. An exodus of fed-up locals is changing the character of this picturesque neighborhood.
Under the new rules, the city allocated 170,000 euros (just over $180,000) to help bar owners hire private security services to stop revelers loitering on the streets outside their establishments. . It is also working with police unions to change contracts to allow more officers to work night shifts to enforce the new rules.
The city may have been incentivized to act more forcefully after rulings in Italy's regional and national courts sided with residents who sued city authorities for failing to curb nighttime unrest.
Elena Montafia, a spokeswoman for the association Milano de Grado, said that 34 residents of the Porta Venezia area are suing the city government for damages, saying that its inaction on complaints endangered their health. There's only one person.
“Life in Milan has become really difficult,” she says, and it was after 10 years of complaining to an unresponsive local administration that she and other residents decided to take the legal route. , he added.
Still, she and others doubted the new ordinance would be an issue with enforcement, rather than major changes.
“When there are so many people around, there is no law to make them go home. It's impossible,” said Fabrizio Ferretti, manager of the Funky bar in Navigli, one of the affected areas. , said this is especially true since crowds usually far outnumber police officers. He admitted he was a persona to the owners of the apartment above the bar.
Milan's current predicament comes after years of efforts by its leaders to expand its image from Italy's financial and industrial center to one that is more service-oriented and tourist-friendly. It is something.
Alessandro Balducci, a professor of planning and urban policy at Politecnico di Milano, said successive municipal governments were also promoting development in areas outside the city centre.
One of the inspirations was Fuorisalone, a vast network of events associated with Milan Design Week, the design world's biggest annual global event, which has “breathed new life into a region that has been in the shadows. ” he said. “For the Milanese too, it was a rediscovery of their city.”
The number of universities in the city was also increasing, now at eight, and design and fashion programs run by private universities were also increasing. Milan's universities are also increasingly offering courses in English to broaden their international appeal.
Students are now replacing many of the workers who once worked in the closed auto, chemical and heavy machinery factories that made Milan an industrial powerhouse, Balducci said.
For example, the University of Milano-Bicocca opened about 25 years ago on the site of an abandoned Pirelli factory.
The surge in student numbers is evident in the evolution of nightlife, he says.
In addition, bars and restaurants have replaced shops in many areas after the coronavirus pandemic, accelerating the change in the face of the area, he added.
According to Milan's tourism site YesMilano, about 8.5 million tourists visited Milan last year (not including those who did not stay overnight). This is far more than the 3.2 million overnight visitors in Milan in 2004 and 5 million in 2016, according to national statistics agency Istat.
A former working-class area built around two of Milan's most scenic canals, the Navigli district has undergone the city's most profound changes and is now an attractive area with picturesque bridges. It has evolved from a run-down neighborhood to a vibrant, trendy neighborhood. restaurants and bars.
Residents say shops serving residents have closed, in part because soaring rents and general unrest have displaced many people, including artists and craftsmen.
“The soul of this area has now changed a lot,” said Valashina of the Navigli committee. “City officials affirmed the idea of gentrification and thought it was a positive goal. Instead, they changed the DNA of the neighborhood.”
On a recent evening, throngs of tourists, students and locals strolled along the canal, passing sign after sign offering to-go beer, wine and cocktails. The bar quickly filled up, and the overflow crowd moved to an adjacent street, forcing passersby to slalom their way through the crowd.
Some young people who enjoy drinking parties are said to have doubts about the effectiveness of the new law.
“Young people are just going to do what they have to do. They'll find different ways to get around it,” says Albasa, a fashion label intern from Dakar, Senegal, who has lived in Milan for five years. Wayne, 24, said.