Many Italians spending the New Year away

Tradition dictated Italian popular behaviour on the Eve and Christmas Day by having four out of five (83 per cent) Italians celebrate that festivity in the home and church. And mostly within the domestic walls.

"Natale con i tuoi e Pasqua con chi vuoi" (Christmas with your relatives and Easter with whoever you wish) is as popular a saying as any. Whichever way you look at it, the celebration of the Christmas feast belongs to the family.

A survey conducted by the weekly publication "Il Salvagente" using a sample of 600 Italians, has come up with a revelation for December 25 that 41.4 per cent of those queried replied "to stay with family and friends" while for 31.1 per cent is was the sacredness of the feast. About 7.5 per cent indicated "a time to buy gifts". To pay due homage to the Baby Jesus, as this feast calls for, 70 per cent went to church to celebrate the Christmas Mass.

Like every other Christmas, even the one for 2002 was steeped in consumer goods, mixing the sacred with the profane. Apparently 35 per cent of the population chose the fir-tree in place of the crib, a tradition to which the southern regions adhere with 18 per cent.

Even the exchange of gifts has sustained a remarkable change with the purchase of gifts rising by 20 per cent among the medium-high levels of society.

It is estimated, however, that Italians are spending about four billion euros but as for those with a lower income, between €15,000 and €40,000, expenditures will drop by five per cent. And some, about 15 per cent, chose not to make any gift at all. According to the Milan Observatory, at least 60,000 Italians are homeless and are spending the season in makeshift or emergency housing because of recent natural disasters.

Where are the Italians heading for? If four out of five interviewed have decided to spend Christmas in their own hometown, they are willing and ready to welcome in the new year by "emigrating".

For the New Year's Eve Dance, the number of those going abroad is four times as many as those in the past, three times as many will spend the night in a different region from where they usually reside, and twice will remain within the region but in another town.

Among those interviewed who plan to leave the country, two out of three have chosen Europe (France and Spain the most popular), the remaining ones will be divided between North Africa (15 per cent), tropical islands (10 per cent) and the United States (four per cent).

Tradition has it once again that wherever there are corks popping as thousands of sparkling wine bottles are opened to welcome Christmas and the New Year, there is also the inevitable and luring mistletoe as an overhead bait for a kiss. And this is where warning bells start ringing.

The Flu and Respiratory Infections Laboratory at the University of Milan warns that the exchange of kisses and embraces, especially during yuletide, favours the transmission of a veritable army of micro-organisms.

"The acute respiratory infections are facilitated by travel and the typical climate of this season. Among the viruses at risk is the classical one being that of flu which is on the ever-increase (half a million Italians are bed-ridden with fever, cough, cold and sore throat)".

As for preventive action, experts suggest the avoidance of excessive effusions and of sealed and unventilated rooms. If there is so much to a fiery kiss, a simple handshake will never match it.