"I don't understand how the mayor can link decibels to the virus"

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Party atmosphere in Fregene near Rome on August 14th

Flavio Briatore has just had enough of Italian politics. "Ciao ragazzi," said the former Formula 1 manager with the blue tinted glasses in an Instagram video to his more than 800,000 fans: "I'm back in Monte-Carlo." Finally in Monaco. Far away from the annoying health ministers and mayors of his homeland, who are more concerned about a second corona wave - and have less understanding for the business of discotheque operators like him.

Before he left Sardinia, Briatore quickly closed the "Billionaire", his legendary nightclub on the Costa Smeralda, notorious for magnum bottles of champagne and trophy girls. First, the government in Rome closed all dance floors across the country with an "anti-dance decree". And then the local mayor in the Sardinian Arzachena, where Briatores club is located: He imposed a general music ban in his community, you can't even chill to quiet sounds away from the cleared dance floor.

Usually at this time of year show and soccer stars celebrate in the "Billionaire". In the middle of it all, Flavio Briatore, who used to be with Heidi Klum and is now 70 years old, likes to be surrounded by models for the photographers.

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Flavio Briatore in his "Billionaire" club (archive image)

But in this strange 2020 season? Like an angry retiree, Flavio Briatore posts his videos from Monte Carlo. Sometimes in a bathrobe, sometimes with a baseball cap, in the background silver-framed photos from his past. No music? "I don't get it," says Briatore. The mayor of Arzachena is the only one in Italy who has tightened the government's decree. "It only does harm." The situation on the Costa Smeralda is not critical in a national comparison. "I don't see how the mayor can link decibels to the virus."

Italy is currently experiencing a hot summer, and the dispute between Briatore and the mayor is symptomatic of the mood in the country. Since the beginning of this week, all discos from Sardinia to the Adriatic have been closed again, as have all clubs in the seaside resorts with an open-air dance floor. And from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., it is now mandatory to wear a mask wherever groups of people can form - especially in front of bars on the beach promenades or cafes in city centers.

All clubs in Ibiza remained closed - in Italy they opened again one after the other

It is the end of a remarkable experiment. While in Ibiza the "Pacha", the "Amnesia" and all other big clubs are closed for the entire season, discos in Italy opened again one after the other. Distance rules, mask requirement and reduced number of guests should ensure the necessary security.

After a particularly long and strict lockdown, according to the general mood, at least a bit of freedom had been earned for the summer vacation. And the numbers spoke for it: The harsh contact bans successfully drove the infected rate down. The numbers are now rising again - albeit much less dramatically than in France or Spain.

Marco Tiraferri runs the "Peter Pan" and the "Villa delle Rose", two clubs in Riccione near Rimini. Summer would be an expensive risk, he said at the beginning of June. But he had no choice, he couldn't just close for a year. "Otherwise the glamor of my brand will have disappeared."

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"Put your masks on," the DJ called into the microphone, but the guests in Fregene near Rome on August 14th just kept dancing happily

But at the beginning of August the situation evidently got out of hand. Too many guests in the club who also didn't care about distance rules and didn't wear masks - that's how the Carabinieri found it. The "Villa delle Rose" had to close for five days. But then the DJs came back to the desk.

The deeper Italy sank into the summer holidays and the more impressively the number of infected people fell, the wilder the parties across the country obviously became. The peak was reached last weekend when Italy celebrated the Ferragosto, the highlight of the holiday and summer club season. Hundreds, sometimes thousands, of guests danced crowded in the most famous discos in the country, from "Praja" in Gallipoli to "Nirvana" near Trapani, fueled by the most popular DJs in Italy. Photos and videos of overcrowded dance floors caused horror nationwide, after all, the corona shock is still deep after more than 35,000 deaths.

Many Italians do not understand why the "anti-dance decree" only came into force at the beginning of this week, after the expected high point of the Ferragosto party. Club operators and politicians have heated arguments; In view of a possible second corona wave, the blame game has already started. "We did not allow the discotheques to reopen," said Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, saying it was an initiative of the Italian regions.

"Discos and guests are made into scapegoats"

The club operators do not want to know anything about possible mistakes. "Discos and their guests are made into scapegoats," explains the industry association Silb. "Infections have not been reported from any discotheque," claims the head of the "Praja" in Gallipoli. There is a lot at stake for his industry - according to the association, with 100,000 employees and an annual turnover of 1.25 billion euros, it produces around two percent of Italian economic output.

And what about Flavio Briatore and his club "Billionaire" in Sardinia? "At first I thought it was a parody," says Mayor Roberto Ragnedda of the ex-Formula 1 manager's Instagram videos. "But it really was." The mayor does not want to be disturbed by Briatore. "We have to remain vigilant and protect the health of everyone," said the politician on Facebook and then addressed Briatore directly: "Especially old people like you."