Out Of Italy

Many French websites have been upset about news coming out of Italy. Occidentalis discusses two ominous events. The first concern is the capitulation to sharia law in the resort of Riccione where special restricted beaches for Muslim women are being considered. The city council plans to give hotels authorization to create areas partitioned off from the rest of the beach, in response to the growing number of tourists from Muslim countries. Councilwoman Loretta Villa declared:

"Our beaches are large enough to fulfill this need...We live from tourism, and we could not survive if we didn't satisfy the demands of our clients, especially those new to our resort...If we wanted to, we could create a section of the beach reserved for nudists, it would be the same thing..."

The segregation will not apply to the sea, but the municipality is considering the building of swimming pools so that these women can take a swim.

The other piece of news is more troubling, though not really surprising considering the advent of the left-wing Prodi government:

Two weeks after the legalization of 350,000 clandestine workers, the Prodi government, on August 4, adopted an important reform in the naturalization code. The bill, presented by Interior Minister Giuliano Amato, opens the way to massive naturalizations by reducing from ten years to five the number of years of residency required to obtain Italian nationality. It also provides that children born in Italy of foreign parents can become citizens at age 18, provided one of the parents had already lived in Italy for 5 years at the time of the birth.

Between now and 2008, up to 1.5 million foreigners present in the Peninsula could theoretically obtain Italian citizenship, according to Caritas, a Catholic organization working on behalf of immigrant communities. The figures were revised downward by Giuliano Amato, who attempted to minimize the impact of the new law:

"You must be careful with these figures. Today, with a ten-year residency requirement, we have 10,000 applications a year. With the new law we project about 18,000...(and only a part of) the 50,000 foreign children born each year will become Italian citizens..."

Long known as a country of emigration, Italy has seen this trend reversed in recent years as the number of immigrants rose from 1.3 million in 2000, then 2.7 million in 2004, reaching 3 million this year according to Caritas. At the same time, demographers warn that the country's fertility rate stagnates among the lowest in Europe at 1.3 children per woman, and its aging population - about 60 million people - is in danger of diminishing in the decades to come...

The government of Romano Prodi, in place since May, had, within two weeks, already brought about a major shift in the tough immigration policy instituted under Berlusconi, by increasing entry quotas to 517,000 foreign workers in 2006 from the 170,000 allowed by Silvio Berlusconi's government...

The bill adopted on Friday will have to be voted on by deputies and senators in the fall. Some right-wing groups have promised open war on Parliament.

"We will shoot down this law that places the country and our future in the hands of the most recent arrivals," declared Roberto Calderoli, senator of the Northern League.

The flag was created by France-Echos.