30 candidates for 46 inhabitants, and the mayor’s mother on an opposing list: Ingria ends up in the Guardian

The small Piedmontese town is a curious case: two thirds of the inhabitants ran for municipal elections, on three different lists

ROME – The church, the Town Hall, the Post Office. Everything is in its place, in Ingria, about sixty kilometers from Turin, about 800 meters above sea level. Except the municipal administration. There are 30 candidates in the next elections. There are 46 inhabitants of the town. The electorate is made up of another 26 people registered to vote from abroad. Then he says that there is no longer participation in public affairs.

The very Italian story of Ingria is curious, and in fact it ended up in the home by the Guardian. Igor De Santis, 42 years old, has been mayor since 2009 and certainly expected competition in the race for re-election from an opposition councilor, 70-year-old Renato Poletto. It’s a shame that at a certain point a third list appeared, the one in the name of Stefano Venuti, resident in Milan and who has a second home in the town.

The gem is that Poletto announced that he had secured the support of De Santis’ mother, Milena Crosasso: he nominated her as a councilor in a list that includes nine women and one man. < /p>

“I asked my mother to join me, but after seeing that Poletto’s list was made up mainly of women, she decided to go with them“, said De Santis.< /p>

She says everything is ok: “Both my son and I want the best for the community and this is an opportunity to give voice to women’s points of view without weakening family ties.”

Ingria is located in the Soana Valley, and experiences similar problems to other small mountain villages: depopulation, poor services and challenges related to snow in winter. Since 2022, however, it has been named among the “most beautiful villages” in Italy and has had to deal with the increase in tourism. “There has been an incredible peak and we have to manage it,” says De Santis. “There are few residents, but many second homes. Our main objective is to preserve the beauty of Ingria”.