by Silvia Marchetti
Italians celebrated Easter on Sunday with recovered confidence in the economy, as well as concerns about higher costs of traditional food, restaurants and travel.
The mood in the country is brighter, as the recession is apparently over but the economic recovery is set to be slow and uncertain. Despite greater optimism, the general consumer attitude is pro-savings.
A shift in this year\’s trend showed that more Italians celebrated Easter compared to 2009, but chose low-cost and home- made festivities due to a general rise in prices.
"Easter is a family tradition. We feel less gloomy than last year and more willing to celebrate, but restaurants and hotels are far too expensive during holidays," 34 year-old housekeeper Angela Diamante told Xinhua.
According to a study by leading farmer association CIA, 8 in 10 people stayed at home having the traditional Sunday lunch with family and friends.
Usually Easter is an occasion to travel and visit historical cities and archeological sites. However, only 9 million Italians could afford this due to the recent hike in petrol pump prices that added 10 extra euros on average to each refill.
Prices of typical food and sweets rose considerably. Chocolate eggs registered an increase of up to 7 percent, and the Italian traditional cake called "Colomba" (a dove-shaped sugar pie) 6.5 percent. Lamb, cheese and ham were also more expensive.
According to main consumer association Codacons, this meant each family spent 210 euros for this year\’s Easter celebration, almost 20 euros more than the cost in 2009.
"Last year I bought 5 big chocolate eggs for my grandchildren, but this time just 3 and each one I paid 16 euros," said 75 year- old Paolo Ceci.
The Easter holidays will end on Monday with the so-called " Little Easter" or Easter Monday. Families, friends and couples will be spending the day out in the open, obviously depending upon the weather which is expected to be rainy in many parts of Italy.
A new trend this year is "ecological" tourism, with almost 17 percent of Italians having picnics in parks and natural reserves, according to Codacons.
For Alice Corrado, a 24 year-old university student, it\’s the best way to enjoy Easter Monday. "My boyfriend and I will be going trekking up on the Roman hills: it\’s healthy, economic and great fun," she said.
Source: Xinhua
