Today in Italy: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday
Bologna introduces a 30 km/h speed limit, Mourinho replaced at Roma, mortgage rates fall, and more news from around Italy on Wednesday.
Italy’s top story on Wednesday:
José Mourinho was sacked as the AS Roma football team's coach "with immediate effect", the club announced on Tuesday, following a series of disappointing results.
The Portuguese manager joined as coach in 2021 and led Roma to victory in the final of the 2022 UEFA Europa Conference League competition, but the team had struggled in recent months and is currently in ninth place in Serie A.
He was set to be replaced by Daniele De Rossi, a former midfielder who spent most of his two-decade career at Roma and helped Italy win the 2006 World Cup.
"The excitement of being able to sit on our bench is indescribable. Everyone knows what Roma means to me," De Rossi said in a statement published to the Roma club's site.
Bologna trials 30km/h speed limit
Bologna on Tuesday became Italy's first major city to introduce a speed limit of 30km/h in the city centre, after the city council announced the 'Città 30' plan in November in an effort to reduce fatal accidents.
"The limit is not a random number. Nine out of ten [people] are saved in the event of a collision at 30 km/h; three out of 10 at 40 km/h; 1.5 out of 10 at 50 km/h," wrote journalist Luca Valdisserri in the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
But the measure was met with anger by some groups, with the city's taxi drivers holding a drive-by demonstration on Tuesday and the USB union calling a 24-hour public transport strike on January 24th.
The speed limit is "the classic straw that breaks the camel's back" taxi driver Riccardo Busi told reporters, adding it would "bring out all the critical issues that have long gripped Bologna's public transport."
Italian mortgage rates fall
Italy's mortgage rates dropped for the first time in December after 24 months of continuous increases, Italian banking association ABI said.
The association said the average interest rate applied to new mortgages at the end of 2023 was 4.42 percent, down from 4.5 in November, reported financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore.
The small drop marked the end of two years of consecutive monthly rises to the average rate, giving some hope to prospective home buyers facing a steady rise in the cost of borrowing.
The ECB was expected to starting cutting interest rates later in 2024, further easing the pressure on borrowing, and there has already been a decrease on rates on loans between banks in anticipation.
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Italy’s top story on Wednesday:
José Mourinho was sacked as the AS Roma football team's coach "with immediate effect", the club announced on Tuesday, following a series of disappointing results.
The Portuguese manager joined as coach in 2021 and led Roma to victory in the final of the 2022 UEFA Europa Conference League competition, but the team had struggled in recent months and is currently in ninth place in Serie A.
He was set to be replaced by Daniele De Rossi, a former midfielder who spent most of his two-decade career at Roma and helped Italy win the 2006 World Cup.
"The excitement of being able to sit on our bench is indescribable. Everyone knows what Roma means to me," De Rossi said in a statement published to the Roma club's site.
Bologna trials 30km/h speed limit
Bologna on Tuesday became Italy's first major city to introduce a speed limit of 30km/h in the city centre, after the city council announced the 'Città 30' plan in November in an effort to reduce fatal accidents.
"The limit is not a random number. Nine out of ten [people] are saved in the event of a collision at 30 km/h; three out of 10 at 40 km/h; 1.5 out of 10 at 50 km/h," wrote journalist Luca Valdisserri in the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
But the measure was met with anger by some groups, with the city's taxi drivers holding a drive-by demonstration on Tuesday and the USB union calling a 24-hour public transport strike on January 24th.
The speed limit is "the classic straw that breaks the camel's back" taxi driver Riccardo Busi told reporters, adding it would "bring out all the critical issues that have long gripped Bologna's public transport."
Italian mortgage rates fall
Italy's mortgage rates dropped for the first time in December after 24 months of continuous increases, Italian banking association ABI said.
The association said the average interest rate applied to new mortgages at the end of 2023 was 4.42 percent, down from 4.5 in November, reported financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore.
The small drop marked the end of two years of consecutive monthly rises to the average rate, giving some hope to prospective home buyers facing a steady rise in the cost of borrowing.
The ECB was expected to starting cutting interest rates later in 2024, further easing the pressure on borrowing, and there has already been a decrease on rates on loans between banks in anticipation.
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