The encore makes less noise than the first time.
And indeed, in Pontoglio, in the Brescia area it is now a rule.
If a foreign citizen does not know how to speak Italian so much that he cannot even pronounce the oath formula, he is sent back.
He will return to the Municipality only when he is able to express himself correctly.
"It's not racism, but coherence" is what they say in this portion of the Brescia province.
Mayor Alessandro Pozzi had already done it a year and did it again.
He denied citizenship to a Moroccan woman, who has lived in Brescia for 21 years, but who does not speak Italian.
She will have to reapply by the summer in order to obtain the document.
"The lady demonstrated not only that she did not possess the minimum level of knowledge of the Italian language, but, even more worryingly, during the ceremony she showed difficulty in understanding the request to pronounce the oath required by law" explained the mayor of Pontoglio , at the head of a centre-right council.
Pozzi questioned "the integration process, both at a family and social level. It is not up to me to ascertain whether the person speaks Italian or not, but the oath must be pronounced. It is a duty, and the mayor must act on the basis of the pronouncement of this formula".
The Municipality of Pontoglio offers free literacy courses for foreigners, in which the woman of Moroccan origins would never have participated according to what was reconstructed by the mayor of the town in the province of Brescia.
"It seems clear to me - Pozzi claims - that she never wanted to integrate. Italian citizenship is an important goal that goes beyond the confines of a piece of paper.
It is not just a bureaucratic act, but a promise of mutual respect and love for our nation, and requires a deep commitment to truly integrate."
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