It was exactly like the 1954 film, "Un Americano a Roma" where Nando, desperate to be American, climbs up to the top of the Colosseum and demands that someone help him leave Italy to go to America. But on June 17th, 2001, the scene was quite different in Verona.
Migrants climbed the scaffolding and sat along the top of the walls demanding their long awaited residency permits. Police were present to cordon off the area as the people occupying the Arena chanted and explained their case in near perfect Italian to the crowd below using a megaphone. Tonight will be the first night of the Verona opera season and Giorgio Napolitano is expected to be present.
The immigrants have been protesting for ten days in front of San Nicolo, located just beside the arena. They have been sleeping on the pavement under rain and sun while demanding the renewal of their "permessi". They arrived in 2009 and were granted asylum. Since then they have been working and paid the 500 Euro fee for their promised permits and also all of their social security contributions. They have receipts for all of this. When they learned that their permits weren't going to be renewed they began to protest in front of the above mentioned church, culminating in their occupation of the world famous Arena on Verona's most important opening night in recent memory.
The protesters, after hours of shouting and chanting, peacefully descended from the walls of the arena using the same scaffolding they used to get up earlier than expected because an official showed up with a document promising them all residency permits. As they gathered around to sign the documents their were tears of joy in their eyes. One protester who broke his ankle was said to be happy as he writed in pain on the pavement in front of the church because he finally won his permesso, his right to stay in Italy and continue working in Italy legally and paying taxes.
In the movies of Italy's postwar period, people were desperate to get out, now, ironically they protest to stay.