There is a phenomenon that deserves to be studied with greater attention: the way in which the Sicilian left, and in particular the Democratic Party, relates to the realization of the bridge. It is not just an engineering work, but a real cultural and political watershed that highlights deep differences between the various souls of the center -left. In Messina, for example, the opposition to the bridge is almost total.
The reasons are manifold, but two main guidelines can be distinguished. On the one hand there are the environmental forces, such as the Greens, which reject the work for ideological and consistency reasons with their own development model: territory defense, urban remediation, respect for nature. For them the bridge represents an invasion, a deep wound to a fragile ecosystem. On the other hand, there are the managers and militants of the Messina Pd, who seem to move more for political and strategic reasons than for a real analysis of the work.
The sensation, clear, is that their “no” depends mainly on the fact that the initiative comes from an adverse political front. If the direction of the work was in the “right” hands, the narration would probably change: same construction sites, same projects, but another rhetoric. In that case, the bridge would become a symbol of redemption for the South. In Catania, however, the debate takes on much more pragmatic tones. Here, also a significant part of the center -left looks at the bridge as to an opportunity. The reduction of transport costs, movement times and logistical inefficiencies is read as an economic lever.
The infrastructure is seen as a development flywheel that can favor businesses, trade and employment. In Palermo, the question is more multifaceted. Public opinion is divided between those who underline the economic value of the stable connection with Calabria and those who, on the other hand, mainly capture its symbolic potential. A great work, for many Palermo, represents a reason for pride, an opportunity to place Sicily at the center of national and international attention. Of course, there is no shortage of transverse criticisms. There are those who claim that priorities should be other: modern roads, fast railways, functioning aqueducts.
All right, but also misleading. The resources allocated for the bridge fall into a well -defined regulatory and design framework. If the work does not go through, those funds would not however be destined to improve the internal roads or to guarantee water in the Sicilian taps. Simply, they would be assigned to other territories. It is precisely for this reason that the Sicilians, beyond ideological opinions, should exercise strong and unitary political pressure: to obtain the bridge, but also, and above all, to demand all the complementary and necessary infrastructures to its full functioning. Meanwhile, a positive effect is already under everyone’s eyes: the media attention on the Strait has generated a new tourist interest in Messina.
*Tourism operator