“At San Marco and San Francesco I was, or rather you all moved me. I confess this to you a few days late, both because you are giving me no respite, committed together with you to sharing day by day, neighborhood by neighborhood, smiles, hopes and a great, great desire for change from below; and because I also wanted to convey to you, as I have been doing since I decided to run for Mayor, clear and concrete ideas and projects to improve what we inherit and build opportunities for development, also and above all from these extraordinary manifestations of identity and love for one’s Earth”.
“I thank – he declares Pasqualina Straface – everyone wanted and knew how to be spontaneous protagonists, once again, of these extraordinary events of the religious and popular tradition of our great City. We must start from the enthusiasm, participation and beautiful spontaneity that continues to animate these two popular festivals of ours – continues – to now make them one of the most attractive and successful tourist-experiential proposals in Corigliano-Rossano, before and regardless of the summer season”.
“Because of this – continues – we will place San Marco and San Francesco at the center of the programmatic and government action of the third largest city in Calabria, building on these two identifying and distinctive events one of the most important territorial marketing strategies ever implemented in Calabria, in a tourist-religious key. Think for a moment about the special combination of dates on which we can count and will have to invest:
- the centuries-old tradition of the Fires of San Marco which has been repeated every night of April 24th since 1836 in the historic center of Rossano;
- the subsequent and equally heartfelt tradition of April 25th in the Historic Center of Corigliano with San Francesco di Paola, Patron Saint of Calabria and among the identity markers of the region;
- one of the most important days marked in red on the calendar, Italy’s Liberation Day.
“And since we are convinced – underlines the candidate for mayor – that doing tourism, or rather tourism, from cultural tourism and historic centers to religious and naturalistic tourism, from food and wine to landscape itineraries, must produce income for the accommodation facilities and not just debt for the municipal coffers, overnight stays and therefore wealth for all related commercial activities”.
But also “jobs and start-ups of young people who do not emigrate and not just uncontrolled public spending detached from the real measurement of results, and therefore we will make San Marco and San Francesco, starting from the edition of 24 and 25 April 2025, one of the most interesting spring tourist packages, religious and experiential, of Calabria and Southern Italy, promoting it outside the municipal, regional and national borders together with the enormous accommodation network of Corigliano-Rossano and involving the whole territory”.
“We have clear ideas, we believe in it, we are convinced of it and we know that drawing inspiration from the experiences and winning paths already followed by other regional, Italian and international destinations is the best path to follow with humility and to share with vision and determination together with the Church and to all the social, cultural and entrepreneurial actors of our city”.
“Because change is possible and serves everyone. Because identity is what distinguishes us and makes us competitive and attractive. Because our goal is not to contemplate the present, but – concludes Straface – anticipate the future. BECAUSE THE TIME IS NOW.”
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