For the Municipality, the Liberation Day all in all went well. For residents, Pratello R’Esiste has instead made the neighborhood “an open-air latrine”. Contrasting positions, expressed for the inhabitants by Barbara Rinaldi, in an open letter. “The garage under the garden of San Rocco – writes Rinaldi – has become like a bathroom throughout the day, for years we have been subjected to heavy threats and insults even if we only dare to enter or exit the garage on foot, by bicycle or by car, disturbing those thinks it’s his right to urinate on other people’s property.” Not to mention the waste. “Even today we have to put up with a nauseating stench,” she says. Therefore, for the residents, the 38 chemical toilets in operation, the 30 bins for plastic and glass, 2 sweepers, 4 high-pressure washers and the 8 more Hera operators deployed compared to 2023 were insufficient. While “the garden of San Rocco it had to be closed, by order, at 5pm. Instead, it was still open at 6pm and remained open until 8pm”. Rinaldi asks herself: “But shouldn’t there have been patrols all day?”, and closes with an appeal to the council: “Respect for private property and the constant presence of law enforcement must be guaranteed to protect those who feel threatened by crowds of drunks.”
For the Municipality, however, “the work put in place for Thursday’s party gave positive results”, as explained by Matilde Madrid, head of the Cabinet, who recognizes that “it can be improved”. In any case “no accidents were recorded”. At Pratello, the Municipality summarizes, 52 local police operators were at work, as well as 25 street tutors, 25 local auxiliaries and around 15 Civil Protection volunteers, who seized 47 bottles, and who issued 5 reports for administration activities illegal, 13 to people urinating in the street, 11 for failure to respect closing times, 2 for unauthorized occupation of public land and 3 for violation of article 15 of the urban police regulation. Furthermore, 2 construction sites were sanctioned and 8 vehicles removed.
Numbers which for FdI demonstrate how much the area was “under siege for hours: that demonstration can no longer be held in that area, an unsuitable place for an event which in fact turns into an open-air rave party”. The League makes matters worse: “The city belongs to everyone. Raves are out of Bologna – says group leader Matteo Di Benedetto –. This is the degradation allowed by this administration. More than a party, an opportunity to party in contempt of the residents’ rights”. And not just via del Pratello. The celebrations for the Liberation continued in the evening also in via Petroni. “A hellish night”, says Giuseppe Sisti, while the residents in Piazza Aldrovandi do not complain of any inconvenience. According to Sisti, the problem “also lies with Unibo. We will talk about it in a meeting we will have on Monday with the rector Molari: the University must take responsibility for the behavior of a certain group of young people”.
Giovanni DiCaprio
