The bills for the past two months have left him in his underwear. And he showed up like that on Facebook, literally in his underwear.
The protagonist of one of the many protest initiatives against the expensive bills is Mario Marras, a Sardinian restaurateur who has a business in Garbagnate Milanese, the pizzeria Chaplin. Local that is affected, "like all Italians", he specifies, by the dizzying increase in electricity and gas bills.
In a video on Facebook, Marras showed up in his underwear to protest the government. Above, in the hands, a target: “We are the target of the government”. He too, like so many others, has hung his bills on the walls of his pizzeria: his video has collected several solidarity comments from colleagues.
"90% of the parties are in government, the remaining 10% will go there soon and no one can find a solution", he says to "The Sardinian Union".
Tell us a little about the increases ...
“Electricity bills have almost tripled. Before we paid less than 3 thousand euros, the one relating to the months of June and July is 8 thousand. And Draghi spoke of further increases, of a doubling in the autumn. So how do we go on? "
How do you go on? Do you plan to close?
“As long as we have resources, we keep going. Closing does not make sense, because even if we close the cold rooms and freezers they must remain on anyway, so the bills would arrive anyway. When the money runs out we will go to draw on our savings, we will take the money from our current accounts, also because I am not the only one to eat from this activity ”.
How many are you?
“In eleven, two shareholders and nine employees”.
Aren't bills the only problem, raw materials?
“We have increases on average of 30%. 40% on fish and flour, 25% on other products. And we are also afraid of losing customers ”.
Because?
“If many companies close their employees will no longer have jobs and will never come again. Dinners out are the first thing you cut when the family's economic conditions change ”.
Will you raise the prices?
“We haven't done it yet, but we will. We are forced to retouch them, something more will come in even if it will not be enough to compensate for the higher costs ”.
In the video she makes an appeal to take to the streets ...
“The problem is transversal: it concerns us restaurateurs, small artisan businesses, families, large industries (if we pay so much I don't dare imagine big industries). So I hope that we all meet, each in his own town, without major national demonstrations, and take to the streets to protest in a civilized and calm manner ".
What do you ask of the government?
“A quick solution, I don't know which one, but a very quick solution because this is not the case. The worrying thing is that 90% of the parties are in government, the remaining 10 will go there after the elections, and nothing has yet been done. There is an electoral campaign and there is talk of war in Ukraine, but nothing for us ”.
Why did you decide to make that video? It may be "the spark that lights up the prairie" he says ...
“Yes, a first moment of protest to bring everyone to the streets and push the government to find an immediate solution. Also a way to groom the Italians and politicians a little: here you get angry because the Dazn signal doesn't work well to watch the matches, not if they take away what you live on ”.
Where do you come from in Sardinia?
"Di Meana Sardo".
When did he leave her?
“I was a child, we are a migrant family. My father was a miner in Belgium, he worked in steel mills in France. And now I find myself here ... ".
At the end of the video she says "ajò", something Sardinian has remained ...
“Of course, I have all my relatives in Sardinia and I am very close. I don't go there very often, I'm always here to work and I only have 15 days of closure in August, when the island gets too full. But I plan to return soon. And then now 'ajò' is international ”.
Do you have a political sensibility, Mr. Marras?
"I say it without problems, I have always been on the left and in the last elections I voted for Movimento 5 Stelle".
What about September 25?
“I don't know, I'm disillusioned. I still have to decide but I might not go and vote ”.
Because of the bills?
“Also, but not only. I also think of everything they have done in this legislature, three different governments, a chaos ”.