Forget Ceuta. Schlein heads to Pigneto for her ‘heatwave’ plan

Pigneto is Elly Schlein’s Ceuta. She celebrated her victory at the party conference nearby and has made East Rome her safe haven. It’s all very well that the Italian government has just suspended the Schengen Agreement with Spain, but even here, in the middle of a garden where everyone is doing their best to carve out a few centimetres of shade beneath trees that are more eye-catching than shade-giving, a battle of no small consequence is being fought: the battle against the heat, which “is also a matter of urban security”, says the secretary of the PD.

Just a stone’s throw from the metro station, in an atmosphere thick with a stifling air reminiscent of Abilio Estevez’s novels, amidst what one might call a Latin heatwave, the Democratic Party gathered to present its proposals to tackle the heat and heatwaves. Eighteen wooden stools, three benches, a sign from the Pigneto branch of the PD. So much so that one of the activists said: “Hey, we could have brought a flag, though.” No sooner said than done. A total of around forty people. Rome’s mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, is there, championing the “de-paving” of this space, talking about “urban reforestation”, as well as the climate strategy adopted by Rome City Council, complete with a cinema and “over 600 climate shelters”. Also present is the PD’s environment spokesperson, Annalisa Corrado, who discusses “hailstones the size of shotgun pellets that used to be seen only in films like The Day After Tomorrow”. Or the summer that “used to be a dream but is now a nightmare”. So much so that even “people’s mental health is in crisis”. Then Chiara Braga, the party’s leader in the Chamber of Deputies, takes the floor to outline the PD’s proposals for “protecting ourselves from heatwaves”, which will form part of a specific legislative initiative. The most significant of these is the allocation of 500 million per year from the ETS for the implementation of the National Climate Adaptation Plan (much to the chagrin of the mayors of Emilia-Romagna, who wrote to Il Foglio asking the party secretary to reconsider her position on the European tax). Rossella Muroni says that “the heat is not a levelling factor”.

When it’s Elly Schlein’s turn, the secretary’s forehead is already beaded with sweat, whilst all around her is a jumble of patchwork T-shirts and elderly local activists complaining: “Oh, I shouldn’t have come. It’s far too hot.” Schlein tries to keep spirits high nonetheless, talking about “a government that’s cutting redundancy pay whilst people are dying from the heat – over 12,000 deaths in the latest heatwaves. The heat is a silent killer, and over 9 per cent of households are living in climate poverty.” Fortunately, however, there are examples from abroad to look to, such as “the city of Medellín, in Colombia, which had a major problem with over-development and, through a process of urban regeneration, has managed to lower the average temperature by two degrees”. On the crisis with Spain, the secretary will say (not here) that “the Italian government’s stance is nothing but propaganda. Meloni is trying to chase after Vannacci and has abandoned the Italian people”.

Political reporters, impeccably dressed for the Chamber of Deputies, have turned up in this small park overlooking the Spaghetti a Mezzanotte restaurant – which is unusually deserted – in their summer attire: T-shirts and Birkenstocks. Among the patrons are also MPs Casu (always in a suit and tie) and Ciani (who arrives in a decades-old Panda), as well as former ‘Sardina’ activist Jasmine Cristallo. It’s far too hot to venture into the maze of little bars and spritzer joints leading towards the Fanfulla. So much so that whilst Schlein and Gualtieri stop to chat in temperatures of over 40 degrees – discussing, among other things, the Spintime situation – Corrado sets off back towards the gardens and stumbles to the ground, complete with a small bottle of water rolling across the scorching tarmac: “Of course, you journalists could have filmed me – I’d have gone viral.” But the journalists were at the drinking fountains, splashing water on their faces and wetting their hair. You need a plan to cope with the heat even at events organised to beat the heat.