Anna Buj is a young journalist who is building a solid professional career. For six and a half years she has been the Italian correspondent for La Vanguardia and RAC1, and now publishes Laboratori Itàlia, which has the subtitle “Històries del camp de proves d’Europa”, and which includes a prologue by Enric Juliana, deputy director. who was also a correspondent in Rome. Between interviews and press conferences, we found a space to connect and chat.
Have you wanted to open a parenthesis in the daily chronicle and give a more personal vision of Italy?
I thought it would be interesting not to do a historical exercise or anything like that, but rather the Italy that I have known, through views: immigration, Venice, the Meloni phenomenon, etc. And do it with a freedom that perhaps we don’t have in the newspaper due to a matter of space and style. Daring to put some first person from time to time are things that we do not do in the newspaper. And getting away from the day-to-day news allows you to have a more global focus.
How did you choose the looks?
Proposing the theory that gives meaning to the title, that Italy is a laboratory, a place where things often happen that later happen in Catalonia and other European countries. We talk about populism, the conversion of the left, the effects of mass tourism, the differences between territories, the phenomenon of population aging… These are topics that I think can explain Italy from the point of view that it interests us.
Give some example.
We have seen it with Berlusconi, who more than 20 years ago was the first great populist, before Trump and many others. We have also seen it now with Meloni. Many of the symptoms that later occurred throughout Europe first occurred in Italy.
Also on a social scale?
During the pandemic, anti-vaccines gained a lot of strength. Regarding the battle for cultural dominance, since Meloni has been in the Government he is very clear that it is a key tool to control the country, which has always been on the left; These days, we are seeing it with the media law; RAI workers have gone on strike to denounce the tight control of public television by the Government.
Why has Italy become a testing ground?
Due to its geopolitical situation, it has always been a bridge between the West and the East. Italy was the first major European country to join the Chinese New Silk Road. The Chinese were very clear that it was a key point for doing business. Giuseppe Conte opened the door to them, and Meloni has cooled that pact and has been highly applauded by the US. There is also the Russian influence; With the war there are parties, like Salvini’s League, that view it with great sympathy. It must also be remembered that, in the Cold War, the Italian Communist Party was the strongest outside the Soviet bloc.
And always with a very fragmented Parliament.
And with a lot of transfuguism.
Another phenomenon that he analyzes is immigration, with Lampedusa as its proper name.
In both Italy and Spain they have found that the migration phenomenon has had to be managed. There are many contradictions at the political level because it was the left that made a pact with Libya, with the Libyan coast guard, so that they could manage immigration. The challenge of immigration is one of the great underlying issues in Italy.
And Lampedusa is very close to the African coast.
That island is a paradox. When you go there, you notice it: while tourists drink mojitos and lie on the beach, boats keep arriving one after another.
As a correspondent for Italy, he is also a correspondent for the smallest state in the world. How do you combine the two correspondent offices?
It’s a big challenge. I think that the influence that the Vatican has in Italy today is very high, on issues such as abortion or the fact that homosexual marriage does not yet exist.
How many dads have you met?
One, to Pope Francis, and Pope Benedict as emeritus.
If he remains in Rome, sooner or later he will have to report a new pontiff.
We hope not yet, because, although Francisco has lived for many years, due to his character, I would be very surprised if he resigned. But yes, as correspondents, we have to be prepared.
Has writing the book changed any of your impressions about Italy?
Well yes. It has been six years writing every day about a country that I am passionate about, I love and that surprises me every day, because every day you discover new aspects. Writing the book has been an exercise in getting rid of certain thoughts and leaving them written down. And there are also things about which my perspective has changed. For example, the Meloni phenomenon. Despite the ideological distance, when you get closer to the character, you understand more about his way of thinking and acting. I have done the exercise of trying to understand it, which perhaps with the newspaper pieces I had not stopped to do. That is, look for the human face behind the prime minister.
Is there Meloni for a while?
I think so. This succession of governments, which changed every 14 or 15 months, is over. Meloni will last.
And will Anna Buj continue telling our readers about it?
For me it’s fine. You never fully understand Italy, and that is a challenge, because it is a complicated country. And after these six and a half years, I think I still have many phenomena left to explain. Next up, the consequences of the European elections.
