(4th June 2012)

Shortly after the earthquake that dramatically hit a vast area of Emilia Romagna, in particular the Province of Ferrara, we were given to understand that the Ferrara Palio would be postponed indefinitely, with the strong possibility that it would be cancelled altogether.

But within a few days, the organisers’ brilliant idea: to turn an earthquake into a publicity stunt. And so: the proud announcement to the press by the President of the Palio organization, Vainer Merighi, Assessore of the Palio, Aldo Modonesi, vice president Valentina Modugno and the representatives of the eight Contradas and of the Corte Ducale, that the Palio will take place after all, not least in honor of the people devastated by the earthquake. And how is this to be done? According to the organizers: "spectators entering Piazza Ariostea will find collecting boxes for donations...."

The extreme bad taste of this decision shows up, once again, the real intentions behind these spectacles: Palio is business and one must advertise one’s goods; after all, some of these horses might perform well enough to be hired afterwards to run in the Siena Palio: very precise agreements exist in the Palio market between organizers of various regions.

So, business comes first, business before the plight of devastated cities and their citizens, whereas what these really need is help in both human resources and money. Yet much-needed support of the Police and the Emergency Services will be diverted to Ferrara and its Palio.

And money which could go to assist people who have lost their homes will now be spent entertaining the Palio supporters...and consequently mistreating horses. It will cost 53,000 euro alone to prepare the racetrack, as the Palio organizers declared to the newspaper Il Resto del Carlino. Moreover, the Ferrara Comune declared in February of this year that it had set aside 110,000 euro for the Palio Association ‘as a contribution to organisation costs’. If we add to this that the Contradas – being autonomous and managing each its own budget – themselves cover the costs of hiring both the horses and the jockeys, it is easy to imagine the amount of money circulating around these races which pose as cultural events.

We appeal to the Special Commissioner for Reconstruction in the earthquake zones to stop the Palio and to channel the resources more appropriately.

LET’S SAY NO TO THE USE OF ANIMALS IN PALII. SIGN AND SPREAD THE PETITION: WWW.NOPALIO.IT