Few Christmas lights in the Province of Naples.
It is a different Christmas this year, in the municipalities of Campania.
From north to south, from the Phlegraean area to the Sorrento coast, other lights create the party atmosphere.
Those of solidarity and of the shops, recently reopened, of traders.
In Castellammare di Stabia the harmonic box remains the luminous bulwark of Christmas tied to tradition.
«The lights will be in a reduced format but they will be lights of hope. We can’t take our children’s dreams away. “
This is how the Stabia mayor Gaetano Cimmino speaks, the administration had allocated 150 thousand euros for the lights but a third will be spent.
The other 100,000 will end up in the hands of needy families.
Even in Bacoli the young mayor Josi Della Ragione had no doubts.
Last year the lakeside promenade was an enchanted path, between Santa Claus villages and luminous reindeer.
Today, looking at it from afar, the municipal villa of the small Phlegraean center makes you melancholy.
But it is up close that you can see another light. The municipal administration has allocated 60 thousand euros for the neediest sections of the population.
A gesture on which Della Ragione had no hesitation, “It’s time to think about others.”
Also, in the nearby Monte di Procida the renunciation of the artist’s lights has been made official.
The funds were diverted “to those in need, such as traders, people who have lost their jobs, young entrepreneurs and families,” explained the mayor of Puglia.
On the same line Vincenzo Figliolia, mayor of Pozzuoli: «In the strategic points of the city there will be small symbols dedicated to these holidays, he declared but then that’s enough.
We thought it appropriate to dedicate the funds destined for artist lights to needy families “.
Ignite hope, celebrate solidarity. These are the principles that have moved the local administrators.
A treasure, the one set aside by the Municipalities, which aims to make up for the shortcomings of the welfare system in this second pandemic wave.
From the Phlegraean area to the coast, to Sorrento, where there will be less pomp this year.
«We introduce ourselves equally in the best way – explains the mayor of Sorrento Massimo Coppola – but the local authorities are called to a great responsibility.
We have cut the costs of Christmas lights by more than half, from 500 thousand to around 200 thousand.
The money saved will go to support damaged categories ».
A bit of Christmas decorations is guaranteed by individual shopkeepers, who also frame the shutters with flashing lights to “celebrate” the reopening.
But even in this case, savings and solidarity are watchwords.
An example is the initiative of the Somma entrepreneurs in Castellammare di Stabia, who by giving up the lights in front of their maxistore decided to donate 5 thousand euros in shopping vouchers.
And the companies that deal with events and lights?
Obviously, they are preparing to tighten their belts, in front of collections that are decidedly reduced compared to usual.
Yet there are no long faces: “It’s true, it will be a poor Christmas, but we decided to do our part and facilitate municipal administrations so that they turn on the lights even if they are cheap, because seeing the lights on is seeing hope”, explains Aniello Donnarumma, owner of a company that operates mainly between the Sorrento and Amalfi coasts.
In this race for solidarity, there are also municipalities that have not foreseen even a cent in the budget for the lights.
It happens in Giugliano, where instead the funds destined for the Third Sector have been increased.
“Our effort is now entirely aimed at protecting the most fragile families through the solidarity activities of the Municipal Operations Center, which also works thanks to the contribution of many volunteers,” explains Mayor Nicola Pirozzi.
And the same happens in Herculaneum, where the mayor Ciro Buonajuto assures that “no one will be left behind or be forgotten”
But since it is also right to try to breathe a little Christmas atmosphere, the mayor launches an appeal to find a sponsor who wants to decorate the city.
Christmas lights yes, but with halved expenses in Casalnuovo di Napoli: “We aim for a Christmas to be lived as a community by supporting small businesses and small neighborhood businesses – explains the mayor Massimo Pelliccia – for this reason we have chosen to illuminate only the main streets” .
Even the administration of Pompeii renounces the lights – in recent years they were real artist’s lights, following the example of Salerno – putting 100 thousand euros into circulation.
“This Christmas we will bring another type of light into the homes of citizens,” says the mayor, Carmine Lo Sapio.
There are about 252 families whose current account will be credited with the “solidarity bonus”.
On the other hand, the sources of light can be multiple.
This must have been thought by the municipal administration of Mugnano by launching the “Let’s light up the city” initiative.
The Municipality allocates the funds for the lights to families in difficulty and asks citizens to illuminate their balconies.
We wish everyone a Christmas of Hope.