"Local authorities were not given the conditions and resources to deal with this flood of requests." This statement was made by the mayor of Castagnaro. Jonathan Modenese, given to the newspaper Corriere della SeraThis highlights a problem that is repeated in several Italian cities: the overload of municipal services in the face of... growing demand for Italian citizenship.
The repercussions came after the case of three Italian-Brazilians, recognized as Italian citizens by the Court of Rome in December 2023. Despite the decision, the city hall only began the transcription in the civil registry in November 2025, almost two years later.
Faced with inaction, Judge Cristina Pezzini, of The Verona court issued an order on October 29th mandating the immediate enforcement of the sentence.The decision provided for a A fine of 100 euros per day of delay., in case the Comune did not carry out the transcription.
"Let's do what we did with everyone else."
The mayor of Modenese admitted that the municipality only acted after receiving a court order.
"Now we will proceed with their registration as we did with all the others," he declared.
According to him, it was an indispensable measure to avoid the foreseen penalty.
The confirmation was also made by the applicants' lawyers, Valerio Piccolo and Andrew Luiz Montone, who highlighted that the comune "has already taken steps to complete the transcription."
The lawyers point out that the right to citizenship is only effective with the transcription of the decision in the civil registry. "Despite repeated requests and the time that has passed, there has been no response from the local administration," they said.
Law has paralyzed municipalities, says mayor.
Modenese also criticized the impact of the current legislation on the daily operations of municipalities: "It's a set of regulations that has hampered the activity of municipalities," he stated. He believes the responsibility also falls on those who draft the laws without considering the practical effects: "Bureaucrats make laws without knowing what the consequences will be."
The mayor argues that the volume of cases has far exceeded the capacity to handle them. The infrastructure of Castagnaro, like that of many small Italian towns, has not been reinforced to cope with the growing demand, especially from Italian descendants in South America.
"The dignity of the person must prevail."
Even while acknowledging the difficulties, the lawyers emphasize that citizenship is a fundamental right and that municipalities cannot ignore court decisions. "Faced with the conflict between exercising a right and the organizational difficulties of registry offices, the right linked to human dignity must prevail," they stated.
