Movida in Naples, Flavia Sorrentino: "It's not a problem, but a resource. We need a delegate for the night"

After the civil court ruling that ordered the Municipality of Naples to compensate citizens damaged by noise and uproar, the vice president of the City Council, Flavia Sorrentino, intervenes to defend the value of nightlife.

“Movida is not a problem to be avoided, but a potential resource – declares Sorrentino – provided that it is regulated with adequate national legislation and with economic and operational tools available to the Municipalities. In this sense, I stand alongside the municipal administration and Mayor Gaetano Manfredi”.

While recognising citizens' right to rest, the Vice President underlines how nightlife is an integral part of the lifestyle of large European cities: "It is not possible, and it would be contrary to modern evolution, to prevent people from going out at night for the right to entertainment. It would also be detrimental to the right to enterprise and harmful to employment to prohibit traders from working during the night, especially in a city that lives on tourism and the tertiary sector."

Sorrentino reiterates the importance of addressing the issue at a political level and not limiting ourselves to judicial interventions: “Politicians must address this directly, asking the Government for national legislation and providing municipalities with adequate resources for monitoring and management.

Among the proposed innovations, the institution of the Delegate to the Night, a figure who will have the task of coordinating interventions relating to nightlife. “I proposed and obtained that the City Council include this figure in the new 'Regulation on serene and peaceful coexistence' – explains Sorrentino –. The Delegate will be appointed by the Mayor and the Councilor for Tourism and will work in synergy with the Consulta della Notte, a body that will represent associations, civic committees and other territorial entities”. The role of the Delegate will be crucial: “It will have to collaborate with citizens, merchants, law enforcement, the ASL and other bodies to find solutions that guarantee the right balance between the right to rest and the right to entertainment and night-time trading”.

Sorrentino's intervention comes at a time of intense discussion in the city. On the one hand, residents of the neighborhoods most affected by the movida complain about inconveniences related to noise and safety; on the other, economic operators defend the need to keep the nightlife alive to attract tourists and support the local economy.

The appointment of the Night Delegate, according to Sorrentino, represents a concrete step towards a more inclusive and effective management of Neapolitan nightlife: “I will ask the Mayor to speed up the designation. Naples can and must become a model of balance between innovation and protection of the rights of all citizens”.