EDITORIAL
I
n the Italia Touristica survey, conducted for the February 2014 BIT in Milan, Salento was once again voted “Territory of the Year” via e-mail. Puglia was also present in tenth place, with Gargano. In another web survey to find “Europe’s Best Village”, Alberobello came twelfth.
The TV drama La mia famiglia italiana (My Italian Family), starring Alessandro Preziosi, shown a few weeks ago on RAI 1, was entirely filmed in Cape Leuca (the extreme South of Puglia). The same area was chosen for the setting of the story and the Salentinian focus of Edoardo Winspeare’s latest film, In grazia di Dio (Quiet Bliss), to be released at the end of March. In spite of his international origins and training, the director, who we interviewed for this month’s issue, has once again chosen to set this new story in the area where he grew up. Puglia again, between Trani and Salento, is the backdrop in Giovanni Veronese’s recently released film, Una donna per amica (A woman as a friend), starring Fabio De Luigi and Letizia Casta. And Salento yet again, with Torre Guaceto, provide the sets of the latest film by Lecce’s honorary citizen, Ferzan Ozpetek, Allacciate le cinture (Fasten your seatbelts), with Kasia Smutniak and Francesco Arca. This is a confirmation of Ozpetek’s love for Lecce and Salento after his 2010 movie Loose Cannons, entirely filmed in Lecce, Gallipoli and surrounding area.
To top it off, a few weeks ago Lecce saw the arrival of Richard Gere, come to film a Japanese advertisement in Tricase (though in this case it was disguised as a French village). As well as having a good look at the old center of Lecce, the actor also visited the Castellana caves. And not far from Tricase, in Tiggiano, there’s the country retreat of the English actress (and unforgettable “Queen”), Helen Mirren, and her American husband, Taylor Hackford, director of sensational films like An Officer and a Gentleman and The devil’s advocate.
Last November Lecce entered the shortlist of cities to become “European Capital of Culture” in 2019. And in 2014 Puglia is once again near the top of the National Geographic and Lonely Planet rankings of the world’s best destinations.
In other words, it’s Pugliamania, with the spotlight on Lecce and its magical baroque backdrop, and above all on Salento, especially southern Salento, one of the last corners of Italy where the landscape can still evoke an ancestral atmosphere, wild and almost untouched.
Fighting hard to preserve what remains of this atmosphere and at the same time concentrating on sustainable tourism and on the quality of services could well be the winning solution to bring our area out of the economic crisis.
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A time of foreboding, taking stock and making plans Puglia “best value travel destination in the world”
Besieged by kings and stars The railroad disaster in Puglia
that has shaken our summer The other Puglia.
The harsh reality of the gangmaster system a world away from the glossy magazine covers If spring starts with the tragedy in Brussels 2016: a year in the sign of Puglia, also in the US TEDx Lecce
The extraordinary lives and the “revolutionary” choices of ordinary people Flavia Pennetta and Roberta Vinci
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A hot summer of culture Lecce in The New York Times again
The love affair of the American press with Puglia and the South continues… Ben Hur in Matera
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A train not to be missed Web
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In Puglia ten beaches with top marks Buried waste dumps, searches for oil, and a gas pipeline in the crystal-clear waters.
Let there be a stop to the misdeeds in Puglia Renata Fonte
30 years since her murder.
She was defending Porto Selvaggio Nebraska
An unsettling story of the other America Otranto’s tree of life
symbol of Italy at Expo 2015 End of the year with great expectations for Puglia TEDx
From California to Lecce the courage of ideas Bill de Blasio.
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if the “Notte della Taranta” attracts 130,000 people… Pianos in the streets of New York The Great Gatsby...
If, by way of the silver screen, the American dream breaks into our lives “If you see something, say something”
Considerations after the Boston attack Salento “Territory of the year 2013” 2013, the Year of Italian Culture in the United States Good resolutions at the end of the year Obama re-elected
“Dreams and pragmatism”
America’s lesson for Europe The Passing of Cristanziano Serricchio, poet of the light Ten reasons to come on holiday to Puglia “Extremely loud and incredibly close” Zeppole in California Those tears on the death of Dalla “Totally awesome” 9/11
ten years later The first time on the web