Christmas dinner and subpar rooms: 200 tourists go wild in Forio. The Carabinieri arrive.

Ischia– A fiery night, New Year's Eve. What was supposed to be an evening of toasts and celebration turned into a full-blown riot within the walls of a hotel in San Francesco, in the municipality of Forio.

Around two hundred tourists, exasperated by the condition of their rooms and the quality of the New Year's Eve dinner, staged a furious protest, forcing the intervention of the police. The protest culminated in the verbal assault of two health workers and the damage to an ambulance.

The spark ignited shortly after midnight. Discontent, which had been simmering for hours over what were deemed inadequate accommodations, boiled over at dinnertime, with the dishes deemed "substandard." The situation quickly escalated: a group of guests verbally assaulted the receptionist, bombarding her with insults and complaints. Although no physical contact occurred, the situation was so heated that a call to the Carabinieri was inevitable.

A patrol from the Ischia Company, led by Captain Giuseppe Giangrande, arrived on the scene in an attempt to calm things down. But outside the hotel, the worst was yet to come. Some tourists, attempting to leave, continued to protest frantically.

At the time, a 118 ambulance was passing nearby to receive another report (which later proved to be unfounded). In the chaos, two paramedics aboard the vehicle were accidentally struck by the angry crowd. Both required medical attention at Rizzoli Hospital, where they were treated and their medical records released.

The ambulance fared no better: one of its taillights shattered, likely shattered during the verbal altercations and crush. A nightmarish ending to a New Year's Eve that the two hundred guests—and the hotel staff—will not soon forget.

The Carabinieri are now investigating to reconstruct the exact circumstances and assess any liability for the attacks and damage. A New Year's Eve celebration that ended, quite literally, in pieces.