In one of the largest cities in Italy, Milan, on the eve of Catholic Christmas, queues lined up in front of food banks. Reuters .
According to the heads of Milan’s public organizations that run food banks, the number of people coming for free food has increased significantly during the coronavirus pandemic and continues to grow.
Many of those who now go to food banks were in the recent past in business or were skilled employees, but faced financial distress due to the closure of most of the companies.
Especially indicative is the fact that Milan is experiencing difficulties. For many years the city and the region of Lombardy, in which it is located, were considered the locomotive of the Italian economy and an exception from the general problems of the country.
Italy was the first European country to face a large-scale spread of the coronavirus. The local economy was hit hard by the crisis, which only exacerbated existing problems, including too high a debt burden. The country is expected to become one of the main recipients of pan-European aid, including through a special fund of 750 billion euros, created by borrowing on behalf of European Commission .