by EH
A rising chorus of objections is echoing across Italy as calls intensify to prevent Milan’s Malpensa Airport from being renamed after the late Silvio Berlusconi, the three-time former premier and media tycoon who passed away last year at the age of 86.
An online petition, amassing over 35,000 signatures, urges Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini to reconsider the decision to name Malpensa Airport after Berlusconi, a figure many deem divisive and controversial. The campaign, spearheaded by the youth wing of the center-left Partito Democratico (PD) in the Lombardy region surrounding Milan, argues that such a significant landmark should honor someone embodying “values of honesty, integrity, and community service.”
The petition underscores Berlusconi’s turbulent legacy, marked by multiple criminal convictions. “Silvio Berlusconi does not reflect these values,” it states emphatically. The backlash gained momentum on Friday evening when Salvini revealed that Italy’s civil aviation authority ENAC had approved the Lombardy region’s request to rename the airport in Berlusconi’s honor. Salvini, expressing personal admiration for Berlusconi, pledged to formalize the proposal, describing the late leader as “a great entrepreneur, a great Milanese, and a great Italian.”
While Berlusconi’s center-right Forza Italia party welcomed the news, opposition politicians and social media commentators responded with a mix of indignation and sarcasm, often invoking Berlusconi’s notorious “Bunga Bunga” parties. Milan’s center-left mayor, Beppe Sala, emerged as a significant opponent of the name change. Sala criticized ENAC’s approval process, alleging it bypassed consultation with SEA, the company managing Milan’s airports, including Malpensa and Linate.
“Two things no longer exist in Italy: a minimum of respect for institutional etiquette and the independence of public bodies,” Sala remarked, as reported by Corriere della Sera. Sala previously thwarted efforts to name Linate Airport after Berlusconi, who, despite his prolonged dominance in Italian public life, was often embroiled in scandals involving corruption, fraud, and underage sex charges.
Furthermore, Sala has repeatedly contested waiving Italy’s mandatory 10-year posthumous waiting period before naming public places after individuals. In a now-deleted provocative Facebook post, Greta Cogotti, the PD vice-president of Biella city council, facetiously suggested dedicating a “massage center with a happy ending” to Berlusconi instead of an airport.
Marco Grimaldi, representing the Green-Left Alliance (AVS), expressed his dismay at the proposal. “I would be ashamed to take a flight from Falcone and Borsellino Airport [named after anti-Mafia judges] and land at Silvio Berlusconi Airport,” he declared. “After the state funeral, the national mourning, and the postage stamp, enough is enough.”
