Prato, 14 June 2024 – “On this very particular evening, I go to bed with a light heart. Because I know that for you I have always done everything I could do. It was a crazy, inexplicable love, but you loved me back, giving me all this emotion. Another chapter of life starts tomorrow (today ed.). But that love, I know, will last forever. Goodnight Prato, and thank you.” And the greeting posted on social media (photo on the left below) that the outgoing mayor Matteo Biffoni he dedicated his much-loved city to “his Prato”, expressing in a few touching words all the passion of a man who, before feeling like mayor, as he has repeatedly underlined, saw himself as “Pratese”. A man from Prato who has always wanted the best for his city, which he had “the honor of leading for ten years”. Avalanche of likes and comments for Biffoni, one of the most pop mayors of the last twenty years thanks also to social media which has made him accessible to everyone. His live broadcasts are unforgettable, still quoted today, during the difficult years of Covid, starting with the now legendary “Veronichina” which will remain in the collective memory of the city.
“Your live broadcasts during the pandemic kept me so much company!”, is the first comment left by Claudia on the mayor’s greeting post published on social media. “It’s so touching to see a mayor so excited and in love with his city. Thank you”, writes Starly. And hundreds more thanks for the work done, for the passion put into these ten years of government and for the commitment. The same passion that Biffoni has tried to convey in these last days as mayor by greeting people, neighborhoods, associations and city realities. “Hello and thank you Prato. It was an incredible love story,” he said during the last inevitable live broadcast answering the citizens’ questions. And even in that case it was full of compliments and good wishes and wishes. Now for Biffoni, who yesterday morning passed the mayor’s seat to Ilaria Bugetti, it is time to move on. Many are asking him to “continue representing Prato in the institutions”, he has not yet expressed himself a well-deserved break confirmed that the time will come to “get back to work, roll up your sleeves for the good of your city”.
Silvia Bini
