Italians will spend 85 euros a head
for St Valentine's Day, according to a survey out Tuesday that
said there will be fewer presents and more romantic dinners this
year as a cost of living crunch doesn't deter inhabitants of the
Bel Paese from feting their love.
Some six out of 10 Italians will celebrate St Valentine's Day,
with spending up around 14 euros on last year at 85 euro per
capita, said the survey by market-research institute IPSOS for
retail group Confcommercio.
But higher prices will hit the dinner table a bit, as one out of
five dinners will be prepared at home this year instead of
eating out, a rise on last year, said the report.
More younger Italians, 66% of under 34s, than older ones, 57% of
over 34s, will mark the feast.
Some 73% of the 1,000 consumers polled said they would be having
romantic dinner while 61% said they will be giving a present as
token of their love.
Flowers are proving recession-proof in Italy on Valentine's Day
as nearly 13 million bouquets and arrangements are expected to
sell by the end of Wednesday, according to Italian farmers group
Cia.
Despite the flagging economy, couples on the most romantic
of holidays are still eager to buy flowers, mostly roses, with
over 10 million expected to burst out of flower shops.
Bouquets are sure to be abundant outside St Valentine's
birthplace at Terni in Umbria, where each year lovers swear
undying passion in the cathedral that houses the saint's head.
Couples also flock each year to the small Sardinian town of
Sadali near Nuoro to ask the saint to look kindly on them and
bless engagements.
The ritual has been going on for centuries in the town's
15th-century church, only the second in Italy to be devoted to
St Valentine.
In local dialect the saint is affectionately known as Su
Coiadori (''he who betrothes'') and many of the couples
expect their pilgrimage to bless their marriage (''coias'' in
dialect).
As well as saintly enterprises, Italy boasts other
romantic rites for St Valentine's Day.
The small southern town of Vico del Gargano, for
instance, has a 300-year-old tradition of garlanding a
lovers' lane for couples to cuddle and exchange love's
promises.
Other places, like Leonardo da Vinci's birthplace in
Tuscany, have a more practical bent.
Vinci council has turned their sports centre's car park,
popular with courting couples, into a Love Park with dim
lighting and handy receptacles for litter left by
love-making.
photo: a heart made out of 500 roses in Turin
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