The mood was jubilant at Italy’s far-right Atreju festival. But has Meloni’s success peaked? | Jamie Mackay

The prime minister has been lauded for her country’s growing role on the world stage. But poverty and precarity are forcing vast numbers to emigrateEarlier this month, the gardens of Rome’s Castel Sant’Angelo were filled with families enjoying some unseasonably warm sun by a pop-up ice rink. Teenage couples skated hand in hand, while the watching crowds sipped mulled wine and hot chocolate to a soundtrack of Nat King Cole. At first glance, it looked like a normal Christmas market. The stands, however, revealed a different reality. Among the nativity displays and kitsch decorations were adverts for nationalist newspapers and something called “patriot radio”. On a wall near the kids’ play area, a mural depicted an unlikely cast of characters, tracing a lineage from the fascist poet Gabriele D’Annunzio to the late American Maga influencer Charlie Kirk.This was the setup I witnessed at this year’s Atreju, Italy’s biggest rightwing festival, which has been running since 1998 as an annual celebration of patriotism and nationalism. During the early editions, proud neo-fascists, including black-hooded thugs from street movements such as CasaPound and Forza Nuova, made up a visible portion of the attenders. At this year’s event, however, the Celtic crosses and odal rune tattoos were tucked under well-ironed shirts. The crowd was made up of nerdy students, gen-Z influencers, civil society campaigners and passersby who had been lured off the street by the glittery lights.Jamie Mackay is a writer and translator based in Florence Continue reading...