Wanted in RomeMagazine Naples is set to demolish a landmark mural of the late Argentine football legend and Napoli hero Diego Maradona as part of an urban regeneration project in the southern Italian city The mural is one of four giant portraits painted by Naples-born street artist Jorit on the gable ends of two enormous blocks of flats in the S The public housing buildings on Via Taverna di Ferro along with their murals which Jorit painted between 2017 and 2018 which bears the title Dios Umano or "Human God" is flanked by another giant portrait of a young boy called Niccolo Built as emergency housing following the devastating Irpinia earthquake in 1980 the two adjoining tower blocks will be demolished on 2 February levelling all 360 homes as part of a major redevelopment scheme in the area The mural of Maradona - who played seven golden years with Napoli leading the club to two Serie A wins in 1987 and 1990 - remains the world's largest painted portrait of the football star On first hearing that his iconic Maradona mural would be knocked down Jorit gave this reaction to Corriere della Sera: "Obviously I'm sorry but let's not forget that the work was intended to shine a spotlight on the Bronx.” Maradona remains revered in Naples more than three decades after leaving the Italian city which renamed its stadium in his honour following his death in 2020 Wanted in Rome ™ is member of the Wanted World Wide Ltd network.Click here to find out more about our Network or Follow us on social networks © 2025 / 2026 Wanted World Wide LTD Network the Neapolitan district of San Giovanni a Teduccio was associated with the Cirio A canned food factory founded in the second half of the 19th century in one of the periods of maximum urban and industrial expansion in the area Following the gradual and complete industrial decommissioning with the fundamental financial contribution of the European Union the Campania Region and the Federico II University invested in an innovative work of urban regeneration A public park open to the neighborhood is created; then an underground garage with 400 seats and immediately after the first didactic modules with classrooms offices and two rooms of 50 and 150 seats for events and events In order to transfer to the students the historical memory of the places some elements of industrial archaeology are refunctionalised The classrooms welcome students of the degree course in Engineering (Polytechnic School and Basic Sciences) and are activated masters and doctorates The laboratories of the Centro Servizi Metrologici e Tecnologici Avanzati della Federico II (CeSMA) are set up which carries out advanced measurement and experimentation of new technologies The campus comes alive and a large digital multinational is interested in the Polo di San Giovanni in Teduccio Naples becomes the headquarters of Apple's first European Academy As the Cupertino-based company begins its first year of training The area is enriched with new multifunctional spaces for students and teachers and a 439-seat 3D auditorium the strategy of the Campania Region and the financial support of the European Union mean that functional cutting-edge and interconnected spaces are created capable of attracting a number of public and private entities capable of encouraging applied research technology transfer and the formation of spin-offs and startups The main hub of the regional innovation ecosystem is born A place of international training (which so far has involved 3,000 students) that guarantees a high rate of outbound employment (95%) and which revitalises the eastern area of Naples Two office modules are under construction and will connect two new buildings in the process of being refurbished to the main hall Completion will provide new laboratories and classrooms for traditional and innovative teaching to accommodate an additional 4,000 students work is being completed on a second 600-seat underground car park A new entrance will be built (from via signorini) that will serve users coming from the Circumvesuviana (station of via Learned) while the San Giovanni-Barra railway station has already become the terminus of Line 2 of the Naples metro there is also that of the Istituto Tecnologie per le Costruzioni The new Neapolitan headquarters of the scientific structure of the National Research Council (CNR ITC) will work in synergy with the activities of CeSMA and Federico II creating further opportunities for development and work The Polo di San Giovanni is a true innovation factory varied and diversified and constantly expanding the aim is to convert the historic body of the former Cirio factory into a Palace of Innovation and Creativity the University purchased the premises of a former Cirio canning factory Through an eco-sustainable recovery of the environments study residences will be made available to teachers engaged in their work in the Palazzo dell’Innovazione e della Creatività The scientific-creative community of Polo Unina di San Giovanni a Teduccio is about to become a self-sustainable and globally interconnected innovative ecosystem A European unicum able to work daily on the construction of the future either observed and verified directly by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources San Giovanni a Teduccio is a working-class neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples today it’s home to abandoned factories that sit in ruins by the sea But the rooftop of a former orphanage points to new beginnings for the community the sun shines onto the deep-blue surface of 166 solar panels that provide low-cost placing San Giovanni at the helm of an equitable energy transition is one of at least 35 renewable energy communities across Italy a leading environmental nonprofit that helped create the entity and install the panels. The project is part of a national effort to get households and local authorities to jointly generate and distribute energy from renewable sources Proponents say it’s a model not just for transitioning economies away from fossil fuels but also for lifting people out of poverty “This community didn’t need empty words,” said Anna Riccardi a grassroots youth educational organization housed in the former orphanage who worked with Legambiente to bring panels to her community said that what residents do need is an equitable energy transition. Naples has one of the country’s highest rates of poverty and unemployment, and yet its residents have some of its highest energy costs. a nonprofit that supports development projects in southern Italy gave Legambiente and Fondazione Famiglia di Maria €100,000 (about $109,000) to install solar panels in San Giovanni which started powering the community in 2021 is capable of producing approximately 65,000 kilowatt-hours per year Families in San Giovanni paid no upfront costs and can expect to pay up to 25% less for domestic bills than average energy consumers according to a study by Legambiente and Elemens. These so-called “prosumers” (because they both produce and consume the shared energy) have the option to sell whatever excess energy they produce back to the local utility and will decide among themselves what to do with the revenue. Leaders of these renewable energy communities say the idea is to put people at the core of the energy transition and empower them in their energy choices and habits while creating community cohesion and proposing new energy governance mechanisms at a local level Italy’s renewable energy communities are part of a broader push across the European Union to get more consumers to produce their own energy. The European Federation of Citizen Energy Cooperatives, REScoop.eu, estimates there are around 1,900 energy cooperatives comprising more than 1.25 million citizens In early 2022, 13% of Italian households—about 3.5 million families—faced energy poverty, meaning they were unable to afford basic services, like home heating, according to Fondazione Utilitatis. And energy prices have only gone up in the year since Russia invaded Ukraine and shut off its supply of natural gas to much of Europe Record numbers of Europeans installed solar panels and heat pumps in their homes in part to help cope with the energy crisis. green energy upgrades can be expensive—and out of reach for many in San Giovanni a Teduccio “The energy community is a model for the fight against inequalities,” said Legambiente’s Mariateresa Imparato “These low-income families will be able to share renewable energy and save money on bills.” Another 20 households are expected to connect to San Giovanni’s solar array in the future. Similar efforts are also gaining traction in the United States. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, 41 states plus Washington, D.C., have at least one active community solar program with 5.3 gigawatts—enough to power about 4 million homes—installed as of last year That figure is expected to nearly double over the next five years The Inflation Reduction Act which also extends provisions on tax credits for the installation of solar energy systems is further pushing American investment in renewable energy which has operated in the neighborhood for over a century said its long-standing relationships in the community were central to attracting families “The foundation was already integrated with grassroots activities and educational projects for children serving about 120 families,” Riccardi added Children were drivers of change among their families learned the differences between fossil and renewable sources and mapped out plans for a more sustainable neighborhood Legambiente then worked with families to tackle energy habits impacting their expenses and encouraged the use of electric appliances during the day when solar energy is more readily available renewable energy communities not only allow people to behave virtuously but also to receive an incentive for consuming locally produced renewable energy,” said Duccio Baldi a startup that helps groups form renewable energy communities “The consumer education part is a crucial long-term aspect; we cannot continue to consume as much as we want and when[ever] we want.” “There are many families who knock on the door and who would like to participate,” Riccardi said “It’s like when you throw a stone into the water Even if people aren’t part of the renewable energy community its effect is positive for the whole neighborhood and In addition to the 35 renewable energy communities up and running across Italy Renewable energy communities can be an engine of job creation. we set up workshops for kids with orientation towards these jobs,” Imparato said “Specialized workers and energy engineers will be needed in the energy transition.” Small towns across Italy may soon get a boost The 2021 European National Recovery and Resilience Plan allocated €2.2 billion to renewable energy communities in towns under 5,000 residents “Potentially tens of thousands of people can become part of a renewable community,” said Baldi who described the communities as a way to “democratize” energy access “This would be an extraordinary turning point.” the mood is high in the unlikely suburb chosen for tech giant’s latest venture the walls covered in either graffiti or church death notices and the ubiquitous clotheslines hung outside people’s windows do not leave the impression that the neighbourhood is a centre for high technology And yet it is this spot – a corner of the sprawling city of Naples that never quite recovered after a major food-packing factory shut its doors in the 1980s – where the Apple chief executive, Tim Cook, and the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi hope the best and brightest young minds in the world will come to develop into leaders in the new app economy This week, Apple, the biggest technology company in the world, will open a new academy here – the first of its kind – that will teach 200 mostly southern Italian students how to write code and launch apps on Apple technology by the end of the year. Read moreEach student at the iOS Developer Academy will be handed the latest iPhone, iPad and Macbook at the start of the nine-month course, which is being offered free of charge following a joint investment of about €10m by Apple and University of Naples Federico II one of the oldest universities in the world The collaboration is already being hailed as a great achievement by the Renzi administration which sees it as a way to disprove stereotypes that suggest Italy’s south is a poor destination for foreign investment With just days to go before the academy’s 6 October opening a university professor who has helped organise the academy with Apple excitedly mapped out a diagram of the new classroom The academy will be housed within the gleaming new buildings in Federico II’s new San Giovanni campus an area comprised of three big buildings with glass facades – plus another building under construction – that starkly contrast with the rest of the neighbourhood The new San Giovanni campus of the University of Naples Federico II Photograph: Stephanie Kirchgaessner/The GuardianNext year the academy will be open to about 400 students about 4,000 people applied for spots in an 11-day period “The didactic model is very new [for us],” Angrisani said Small groups of students will sit at round tables equipped with special acoustic systems so the teacher can communicate with each table individually about their work since it is meant to be open to students from around the world “Competition will be a fundamental part of the class,” Angrisani said An Apple classroom under construction Photograph: Stephanie Kirchgaessner/The GuardianApple has insisted that couches and a lounge area be built in the other half of the classroom “Apple thinks that all of these activities because this is the best way to ensure that the concepts are absorbed and understood very well,” he said The collaboration has gone exceedingly smoothly But a visit to the site by the Guardian showed signs of a clash between the hyper-secretive corporate culture that has become Apple’s trademark and Naples itself – a city that is stereotypically considered a place where no one can keep a secret While a university official was happy to show a Guardian reporter the new classroom (exhibiting a very relaxed attitude about the fact that it was still being assembled by workmen) and allowed her to pop her head into a class where new academy teachers were being coached by an Apple official things got touchy when Apple realised there was a journalist in the vicinity When the Guardian journalist identified herself and asked why the teachers-in-training were watching the opening credits for the Netflix series Chef’s Table on a large screen Another shot of the classroom Photograph: Stephanie Kirchgaessner/The GuardianOne university official noted that far from just writing a cheque and letting the university doing the rest of the work even on details such as the lighting in the classroom and the colour of the walls Apple declined to comment on any aspect of the academy or its experience in Naples At Federico II main campus in the centre of bustling Naples said he hoped the project would eventually add a new dimension to the whole San Giovanni neighbourhood He said there was a keen desire – shared by Apple – for the students to be placed in jobs at local companies or create startups based in Naples since the area often suffers from “brain drain” Teachers watching Netflix in a coaching session Photograph: Stephanie Kirchgaessner/The GuardianWhen Cook was asked in January why he had chosen Naples he indicated it was partly a desire to be a good corporate citizen He told La Repubblica that he admired the “entrepreneurial spirit” of the city and believed Apple could “make more of a difference there” He was influenced by a talk with Renzi in which the prime minister told him there was an imaginary line dividing Italy, with the north being richer than the richest countries in Europe “That’s why we’ve decided to go below the line,” he said a top official in the Renzi administration said the new academy had become an excellent showcase and that he was proud that institutions around Naples had got the project off the ground in mere months “An investment in technology in the south is a good idea because it is relatively inexpensive If you set this up in central London the costs would be five or six times what they are here – not to mention the benefits of life in Naples,” he said Yet it will not do much to assuage Renzi’s biggest critics in the south who say he has done far too little to help the poor regions he so eloquently championed to Apple’s chief executive who said he believed Renzi had done “substantially nothing” for the region The suburb of San Giovanni Photograph: Stephanie Kirchgaessner/The Guardian“All his policies are projected towards the centre and north of the country The majority of public investments go from Rome upwards,” Magistris said “We are of the opinion that to do this in [San Giovanni] was a good idea It seems like a big contrast – think of everything that happens in Silicon Valley … in the Anglo-Saxon world – but at the end of the day the message is to make big companies connect with our talent.” the excitement about the academy is palpable One bar owner in the neighbourhood recently hung a photograph of Steve Jobs in his window alongside another photograph of Maradona “When Apple officials came around for a visit the bar owner said the picture had been there for years,” he added with a laugh was turned into an innovation hub that is connected with the University of Naples Federico II Public transport to the suburb was improved with the extension of a train line to the university’s San Giovanni campus The newly transformed industrial area now serves as a meeting point for locals in this part of Naples The enhancement of human capital and talent is a central element for the redevelopment of the territory in an innovative way The partly EU-funded urban redevelopment project in San Giovanni a Teduccio led to a concentration of local businesses and high-tech companies that benefit from the university’s laboratories and well-equipped classrooms links to both the city centre and other parts of the Campania region have improved and the university campus has become more easily accessible The area around the campus has become a meeting point due to a number of restaurants and stores located there With unemployment a big issue in the suburb the project directly employed some 300 people throughout its duration of just over a year The San Giovanni a Teduccio was previously known for its successful tomato canning industry since the decline of the food processing factory in the 1970’s the buildings have stood empty for over 30 years the region has invested in the redevelopment of these industrial areas The ensuing investments have brought technology transfers and training opportunities It also houses a branch of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche the National Research Council of Italy. The San Giovanni Hub covers some 200 000 square metres Care was taken to preserve the architectural history of the old factory buildings multifunctional rooms and auditoriums on the premises The university plans to expand with plans for a new science park in the area The new innovation and technology hall would host research facilities and technology transfer programmes The aim is to create an innovative ecosystem that will result in new inventions and ensure include the local population.The ‘San Giovanni Hub’ project was supported by the OPs Campania 2007-2013 and 2014-2020 Total investment for the project “San Giovanni Hub” is EUR 60 852 567 with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 45 639 425 through the Regional Operational Programme for Campania The investment falls under the priority “Jobs The footballer’s move to Naples resurrected his career leading to professional glory – and personal disaster A new documentary from the maker of Senna tells his incredible story Tim LewisSun 2 Jun 2019 13.00 CESTShareDiego Maradona didn’t know it would be his last match for Barcelona It was the final of the Spanish Cup against Athletic Bilbao in May 1984 it went badly: he was relentlessly hacked at by the opposition including a man not long christened “the Butcher of Bilbao” for a tackle on Maradona that almost ended his career Barça had lost 1-0 and he received more taunts He launched an extravagant kung-fu kick at one of them and knocked another out cold with his knee The brawl escalated and became one of the most infamous in football history Eric Cantona’s 1995 lunge into the crowd looks tame in comparison King Juan Carlos and more than half of Spain watched as Maradona It wasn’t the first problem Maradona, then 23, had encountered at Barcelona, either. The club chastised him for going out too much. He replied that it was none of their business. He took cocaine for the first time in a nightclub there. “One hit,” he remembers in Asif Kapadia’s engrossing new feature-length documentary Diego Maradona “and I felt like Superman.” The Argentine was brilliant It’s that thing where if you wrote it down Maradona didn’t have any choice: Napoli were the only club willing to pay his fee of £6.9m he told reporters of his hope for a fresh start in Naples searching out some of Maradona’s old haunts with Fiammetta Luino a translator and archivist on Kapadia’s film it was renowned as the place to study opera Naples has long been home to some of the world’s most skilled tailors It is one of the great food destinations: a city that maybe didn’t invent pizza but perfected it and one that certainly pioneered the delicacy that is fried pizza Its dialect is theatrical and full of passion Children bomb down dark alleys on scooters Under your feet are tunnels used by gangsters to avoid detection Maradona might be the first person in history who came to Naples searching for “peace” Maradona during a Serie A match between Napoli and Juventus in 1985 Photograph: Stefano Montesi/CorbisThis was especially true in 1984 when he arrived the Irpinia earthquake had killed about 2,500 people and left 250,000 homeless in the region the local Camorra crime syndicate had become more powerful than ever: they hogged the funds set aside for rebuilding the area and tightened their grip on the construction industry A turf war started that ran throughout the 1980s there was a murder in Naples,” Simone Di Meo an investigative journalist who specialises in the Camorra tells me over a bicerin in the very grand Galleria Umberto I in central Naples a location picked because it is open and very public something a man with powerful enemies has to keep in mind “So that gives you an idea of the scale of the fighting.” “Naples was a city that lived waiting for Sunday” – that is Opposition fans would wave bags of rubbish in their direction; those were the nice ones The nasty ones sang songs with lyrics such as: “Sick with cholera there is a strong belief in the idea of a saviour who comes from outside the city and redeems the people who live there who saved the city when Vesuvius was erupting by changing the direction of the wind.” “Diego and Naples are perfect for one another,” he says “It’s almost like he is Neapolitan and he found his home So he has this awful time in Barcelona and he left there he’s rock bottom and he goes to Naples and suddenly there’s all this love ‘Perfect!’ The problem is that you can’t switch it off: the touchy-feeliness Maradona would spend seven years in Naples the longest and most fecund period of his career: he won two league titles including the 1986 World Cup with Argentina and proved definitively that he was the great player of his era But it was also disastrous for him personally: he became mixed up with the Camorra multiple infidelities and developed a full-blown addiction to cocaine “Diego already had that tendency of excess: when he goes out dancing and he felt it was too soon to return to sport and South American tragi-heroes to add to the two Baftas Senna won – and also with the commercial heft of having made the two highest-grossing British documentaries ever – Kapadia returned to Diego Maradona his signature style was well-established (and widely emulated) densely researched films that eschewed talking heads in favour of archive footage and previously unseen home videos He describes his films as “mosaics” and compares them to pop art; this approach to documentaries owes more to the fact that his early films were art projects made at the Royal College of Art than a radical desire to subvert the genre calls Diego Maradona the final instalment of a trilogy it was the hardest of the three films to make “It’s the equivalent of trying to nail jelly on the wall because the minute you think you’ve got something So it’s been a really challenging project to try to get the essence of this man Senna was consistently charismatic and incredible I just fell in love with Ayrton Senna and people who see the film fall in love with him And she needed love and she needed attention and sadly everyone that she went to But I like him… I don’t know if I ever fell in love with him the same way I did with Amy and Ayrton Senna Early on, Kapadia realised he had enough original material – and a compelling-enough protagonist – to make a long film for television, similar in scope to OJ: Made in America which ran for seven hours 47 minutes and won the Oscar for best documentary in 2017 A story that would follow Maradona from his upbringing in one of the poorest most miserable slums of Buenos Aires and tell how a player with no physical advantages became the best in the world through his relentless controversies to the present day Kapadia decided against working with a TV channel or streaming platform and Diego Maradona is a tight two hours 10 minutes and will be released first in cinemas A mural depicting the infamous “Hand of God” goal scored by Maradona against England at the World Cup finals in 1986 Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images“The honest truth is: I’m old-fashioned I love being engrossed in a dark space with a group of people and experiencing something collective I know also that I’m not the best person at watching 10 hours on TV I’ll suddenly have an urge for chocolate or a biscuit or something I don’t have the time to watch 10 hours on every subject it’s that Mark Twain line: ‘I didn’t have time to write a short letter Kapadia had started to notice a pattern in Maradona’s behaviour: “death and resurrection” as the Argentinian’s biographer Daniel Arcucci calls it “His life is a series of cycles,” says Kapadia ‘Don’t tell me what to do!’ It ends in disaster “I spend a lot of time with my brilliant team making these films I’m not gonna expect you to watch 10 hours of it And his time in Naples was the greatest cycle of Diego Maradona’s life.” Diego Maradona still looms large in the city He features on two giant murals that cover the sides of buildings: one was completed in the 1980s and is given regular touch-ups; the other was done in 2017 by the street artist Jorit Agoch Maradona’s face appears everywhere on scarves and posters; in Bar Nilo there are a couple of strands of his hair behind glass like a holy relic The owner tells me that he flew to Milan to watch Napoli play and happened to be on the same flight home as the team he scooped up the hair and popped it in a cigarette packet “Naples is full of votives for saints and I played on that idea,” he says The bar owner is, naturally, talking about the “Hand of God” incident: the quarter-final of the 1986 World Cup that Argentina won 2-1 against England with Maradona contributing both the most sneaky and sublime of goals scoring with his fist was never a particularly big deal – he’d done it ever since he was a kid in fact – but the 1986 World Cup did represent a significant moment for him: it was his chance to prove that he was the best player in the world Some felt he arrived in Mexico in the shadow of France’s Michel Platini and Brazil’s Zico but after leading a mediocre Argentina to victory “We tend to think he’s always been the best player who has interviewed Maradona since the 1980s “He became the best player in Mexico in ’86 And if you want to summarise the whole Maradona myth you can do it through this game against England he said it was nothing but a football game that he was taking revenge for the soldiers who’d died in the Falklands war.” Footage from the film showing the young Maradona at home in Argentina Photograph: Cannes Film FestivalAt this year’s Cannes film festival where he ties the England team in one giant knot “Everyone started clapping,” recalls Kapadia tongue in cheek: “I wonder if that happens a lot in England neither the player nor club returned to the same heights “You have to bear in mind that Naples is a city that eats up – devours Napoli were relegated and then declared bankrupt He is currently the boss of a second-division Mexican team who he led to the brink of promotion this year before losing a second-leg echoing comments he’s made regularly throughout his career Maradona remains reliable tabloid material he was reportedly detained at Buenos Aires airport and presented with a charge to appear in court: his ex-girlfriend Rocio Oliva claims that he owes her £5m he finally acknowledged the paternity of three children born in Cuba where he went to treat his cocaine addiction between 2000 and 2005; the 58-year-old is now the father of eight it’s all another round of “death and resurrection” then you will look at him differently,” he says hardcore England fan who was in the stadium in Mexico in 1986 How can anyone come out the other end?’ And what I’ll give him: he’s a street fighter because he’s still going The number of times he’s been knocked down ‘He’s come back more times than Jesus!’ But Jesus has got nothing on him: this guy dies and comes back This is the archive of The Observer up until 21/04/2025 The Observer is now owned and operated by Tortoise Media the player's success was defined as much by politics as the magic he created on the pitch In 2021, Amazon Prime Video released the series Maradona: Blessed Dream based on the life of Diego Armando Maradona arguably the most renowned and controversial footballer of all time The programme follows the life of Maradona from childhood until his mid-twenties We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences Credit sequence for Maradona: Blessed Dream These choices could appear to be out of place What do Thatcher or the war have to do with the goals and dribbles of Maradona his success was defined by politics as much as football Although he was one of the most gifted footballers of the modern era he would probably not have achieved the same status of global myth and icon without the wider socio-political coordinates in which his career unfolded The Falklands War began in April 1982, when the unconstitutional military junta that ruled Argentina since 1976 decided to invade and recover the Islands. Two months later, when the 1982 World Cup in Spain was just beginning the conflict ended with the surrender of the Argentinean armed forces At the time of the tournament, expectations around the Argentinean team were high. It had won the previous tournament, held in Argentina in 1978 (a controversial decision by FIFA since the tournament legitimised the dictatorship already heavily questioned for its human rights abuses) who was being recognised internationally as a hugely promising player despite having only played in the domestic league the team performed poorly and exited the competition early Maradona's two goals against England in the 1986 World Cup The event that transformed Maradona into a national hero and a symbol of rebellion and resistance is the famous football game between Argentina and England in the 1986 World Cup quarter-finals in Mexico City but its citizens were still struggling to come to terms with the recent past Beating England was always going to entail a sense of redemption and retribution following the War Those feelings were magnified by the way the victory arrived: Maradona scored the two most well-known goals of his career the wider sense of (metaphorical) retribution that beating England implied was subsumed within an act of personal heroism but it was the talent of Maradona - his skills and trickery - that made the victory possible restaging the myth of the individual fighting against all odds It must be added that the same was not said about the English team’s violent fouls against Maradona Maradona arrives in Napoli in 1984 (taken from Asif Kapadia's 2019 film) From that game onwards, Maradona become a worldwide phenomenon, but his image was further cemented the following year in Italy, when he led SSC Napoli as they became first division champions in 1987. At the time, no team south of Rome had ever won the scudetto For the people of Naples, this sporting victory represented much more than a football trophy. For the impoverished Italian south, this was also a vindication in an unequal competition in which the teams of the richer, industrialised north (Juventus, Milan, Inter) held an advantage Napoli supporters could now to travel to cities such as Milan where they would suffer racist abuse from rival fans and come away with a victory that turned the tables on the established order Maradona's birthplace was declared a national historic site by the Argentinian government in 2021 Maradona was brought up in extreme poverty in a deprived suburb of Buenos Aires in a house without running water or sewers He embraced the role of protector and defender cast upon him He was turned into a signifier that could absorb a number of meanings The most common ones revolved around Maradona as somebody who stood up for the people Maradona became an outspoken supporter of the regimes of Fidel Castro in Cuba and Hugo Chávez and later Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela He even got images of Castro and Ernesto 'Che' Guevara tattooed on his body it is highly debatable that endorsing autocratic leaders who headed regimes that violently suppressed dissent and individual freedoms could be still considered genuinely radical the most eminently political aspect of Maradona will not be found in his often-contradictory discourse what Maradona meant to fans in Naples and Buenos Aires This gave rise to the mass production and circulation of the widest variety of merchandise with his name and image on it: replica shirts None of this was done legally: no image rights or commissions were paid to player or the club Maradona’s managers tried to put a stop to this practice, but Maradona refused. As he explains in the documentary Maradonapoli he would never seek any legal actions against working class people who made and sold this merchandise trying to make a living Would something like this be conceivable in football today Diego Maradona: A Socio-cultural Study is edited by Prof Pablo Brescia and Dr Mariano Paz will be published by Routledge in December 2022 The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ Dr Mariano Paz is Lecturer in Spanish and Subject Head for Spanish at the School of Modern Languages and Applied Linguistics at the University of Limerick RTÉ.ie is the website of Raidió Teilifís Éireann RTÉ is not responsible for the content of external internet sites highlighting the beauty of a city we should all visit at least once in our lifetime See Naples and discover its energy is the advice The New York Times gives to its readers putting the Neapolitan city on the list of 52 places to visit in 2022 The destination list is compiled annually; its latest edition is based on the principle of environmental and social sustainability that aims to encourage a type of tourism and a conscious lifestyle that will limit our impact on the environment Naples is being featured at the thirty-fourth position also thanks to the Solidarity and Renewable Energy Community project of San Giovanni a Teduccio a project promoted by Legambiente in collaboration with the Famiglia di Maria Foundation and supported by the Fondazione con il Sud The project demonstrates how the community is rolling up its sleeves to reverse the course of climate change the project has engaged 20 families in a real “cultural revolution” primarily because the goals are rooted in not only environmental sustainability but above all A 53-kilowatt solar system was installed on the roof of the Famiglia di Maria Foundation building the energy produced is being shared with families living in this low-income neighbourhood a neighbourhood where illegal energy use is common there was a need for a strong awareness campaign one that would successfully involve the residents of the neighbourhood who are now saving money on their utility bills by taking advantage of clean an 11-year-old boy awarded by the President of the Republic with the certificate of Standard Bearer of the Republic (Alfiere della Repubblica) for his commitment to the community you can discover Naples’ energy and solidarity in many situations and places as you walk around the city trying not to miss the tiniest of detail More information and the complete list compiled by The New York Times can be found at the following link >> www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/travel/52-places-travel-2022 The triennal strategic plan of Fondazione Con il Sud for the 2025-2027 triennium The annual report of Fondazione con il Sud is available for download that aims to raise public awareness about mental health issues in adolescents and promote active involvement of young people A fully-funded vocational training program specializing in audiovisual and film production designed for NEET the project aims to support social enterprises in the green transition where MEDU (Doctors for Human Rights) has provides ongoing medical care and legal assistance to farm labourers A truly special performance unfolded last month in Naples' Secondigliano prison where globally acclaimed artist Sting delivered a moving rendition of “Fragile” alogside the Quartetto del Mare During NIAF's 48th Anniversary Gala in Washington attended by the US President and First Lady an international fundraising campaign was initiated by the National Italian American Foundation They aim to raise 300,000 euros for the creation of the "Academy of Neapolitan Nativity Art" The launch of the Stazione Ninfeo project is a result of the Agreement between the Municipality of Lecce and Fondazione Con il Sud A project in Foggia is taking care of the health and social well-being of migrants who have settled mainly in one city area Progetto “Noi in Biblioteca con Voi” sostenuto da Fondazione con il Sud e Centro per il libro e la lettura del Ministero della Cultura.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc_kHupqjFo Gestione segnalazioni – Whistleblowing ANM (Neapolitan Mobility Company) informs that a new tram line will be activated which will connect San Giovanni a Teduccio and National Square in Naples This new line represents an important step towards improving city mobility and integrating connections between the different areas of the Campania capital The new Line 422 it adds to the existing tram lines 421 e 412 strengthening the city's public transport infrastructure This line offers a fundamental exchange for the university campus of Saint John BRIN parking thus allowing users to move more easily between strategic areas of the city A distinctive feature of the new Line 422 it is the use of historic trams CT139 K from 1935These vehicles have been regularly tested by ANSFISA (National Agency for the Safety of Railways and Road and Motorway Infrastructures) and represent a real national cultural heritage for the city of Naples but also an opportunity to rediscover a piece of the history of Neapolitan public transport The service of the new tram line will start at 06pm and end at 00pm with a frequency of one tram every 20 minutes Departures will be coordinated with those of the lines 421 e 412 in order to increase the passage of trams along shared routes and ensure a more efficient service efficient and regular for the customers The use of the tram represents an important step towards sustainable mobility in Naples ANM is working to contribute to the transition towards an increasingly more efficient transport system green and focused on theelectric aiming to reduce emissions and improve the quality of life in cities For updated information on the service and to receive assistance you can contact the ANM contact center to the toll-free number 800 639525 active from Monday to Friday from 06: 30 to 20: 00 we earn a commission from qualifying purchases through ticketing links This commission does not entail any additional price for the user one of the most populous neighborhoods of Naples once the hub of the city's industrial activities and now predominantly residential with a prevalence of public housing including the prestigious headquarters of Apple known as the “Bronx of Naples” (even if it is a "nickname" that is very unwelcome by residents and local associations fighting for the urban redevelopment of the area) is destined for a complete metamorphosis thanks to a ambitious urban regeneration project The houses of Iron Tavern they are not a simple agglomeration of buildings but they represent an important piece of the history of Naples Built in the following period to the devastating earthquake of 1980 these structures have become a symbol of a resilient Naples witnesses of an era of reconstruction and hope are preparing to make room for a new chapter in the neighborhood's history The first step towards the renewal of Iron Tavern begins with the demolition of secondary structures such as: Spaces that were once essential for the daily life of the neighborhood which now represent the symbol of a beginning the first piece of a mosaic that will design a different future for the area Citizenship was in fact invited to start clearing the spaces independently before the authorities take action from 28 January 2024 The participation of local citizens and in particular of the local committees of the area was active in fact they also accompanied the technicians in the census of the areas in question which underlines how well the project was received an event we have been waiting for for 40 years this operation will be the achievement of a great result both for the Committee and for the Municipal administration We are writing the history of this neighborhood A story that the inhabitants will not easily forget because it is the result of great sacrifices and suffering felt in these 7 years of activity and struggle We hope that a new phase will be brought to life paving the way for a more modern and livable environment in the last 2 years it has undergone numerous changes and "changes of mind" on the part of the municipal administration in 2022 the demolition of only the "north sail" was planned thus leaving the south one and the side walls intact it is the result was confirmed as a total abatement but in recent weeks there has been talk again of a possible partial abatement Where reference we should proceed with the total demolition the demolition of the Taverna del Ferro buildings in Naples will happen in two phases which will begin in January 2024 with the emptying of warehouses and garages those located in via Taverna del Ferro 11 and 13 residents of these buildings will be relocated to temporary accommodation located in other areas of the city The demolition work will presumably take several years which is expected to start in 2025 (even if it is an overly optimistic hypothesis) the other two buildings will be demolished the ones located in via Taverna del Ferro 9 and 15 the residents of these buildings will be transferred to permanent housing which will be built in the Taverna del Ferro area after the demolition of the old buildings The residents of the Taverna del Ferro buildings they will be moved to temporary accommodation located in other areas of the city until the works are completed Accommodations that will be identified by the Municipality of Naples based on the needs of individual families Residents will be notified in advance of the move and will receive an allowance for moving expenses will be built according to the principles of urban regeneration The buildings will be equipped with all comforts and quality services The regeneration project of Taverna del Ferro is financed with funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) The intervention has a total cost of over 106 million euros and involves the construction of: The objective of the project is to redevelop a degraded area of the city and create a new liveable and more attractive neighborhood If the hypothesis of a total demolition were to be confirmed The urban regeneration of Iron Tavern involves difficult choices including the removal of the four murals of Jorit open-air works of art that have embellished the facades of the "sails" A decision that unfortunately it also includes the mural depicting Maradona loved by the community and fans of the champion Although their removal arouses mixed emotions perhaps through new works that celebrate the memory of what has been and the aspiration for what will be The street artist Jorit Agoch has made a new mural on one of the buildings of the so-called Bronx in San Giovanni a Teduccio The artist had already created a mural dedicated to football player Diego Armando Maradona Now that of Maradona will be visible on the right and that of a very young "human being" on the left What captures the attention are the details of the depicted face with the use of the chiaroscuro technique that gives depth to the drawing A face in the foreground and then a zoom on the expressive eyes of a young man The work is as if it were a photograph of a Neapolitan boy whatever because the artistic purpose is to pay homage to our people who have always enthusiastically welcomed the works of Jorit which have embellished many facades of buildings in degraded neighborhoods Recall that the artist made works of street art also in Ponticelli, in Quarto for Hamsik, in San Giorgio for Massimo Troisi Good news and an interesting project will involve i neighborhoods of Scampia and San Giovanni a Teduccio in Naples in the area where the famous ones currently stand Sails and Iron Tavern places known for the social degradation of the suburbs new residential neighborhoods will be born for which the City Council has obtained funding from 122 million euro divided into 70 for Lot M Scampia and 52 for the Taverna del Ferro will provide for a complete urban regeneration with new housing proximity services and redeveloped open spaces Thus two new eco-neighborhoods will be born in fact Le vele and Palazzoni of Taverna del Ferro will be completely demolished and will be rebuilt new buildingsi thus giving citizens the opportunity to live in new e comfortable accommodations They will then be taken co-design measures the third sector and other subjects who represent the inhabitants while the final project will be ready by the end of 2023 We just have to wait for the news in the program one of the main Neapolitan public transport arteries was inaugurated in 1925 under the fascist regime was the first metropolitan railway section in Italy despite sharing the tracks with long-distance routes line 2 has been used exclusively for the Metropolitan service while since 2014 the line has seen an extension of the terminal which went from Gianturco to San Giovanni / Barra The line counts 12 stations, 45 minutes to cover the entire route San Giovanni / Barra - Pozzuoli. To access you need a ticket for the Naples metropolitan area, for more details on prices visit the section dedicated to tickets as rates vary over time La subway it operates in 2 different time slots: weekdays and holidays it is advisable to use apps to check train circulation on your mobile terminals Android we suggest Train timetable, to iOS Train Info, to Windows Phone Train Info In service from Pozzuoli from 5:43 to 23:18 on Saturday mornings every 11 minutes on average In service from San Giovanni a Teduccio from 6: 20 to 22: 35 on Saturday morning on average every 8 minutes Please note:: sometimes the trains finish earlier sometimes with the last train towards Barra/San Giovanni a Teduccio at 21:50 Check the timetables with the Trenitalia app or website The holiday time varies depending on the availability of Trenitalia, we recommend you to contact the official website www.trenitalia.com for constantly updated information The station has been activated in the far 1925 and is equipped with well 5 rails and 4 docks it includes several regional trains for the Campi Flegrei and Villa Literno the airport is located between the district of Bagnoli and the area of Agnano Regional trains pass in the direction of Villa Literno It is located a few steps from the homonymous deposit and leads to Edenlandia and the Scandone pool the stop is for regional trains to Villa Literno The station is located in Fuorigrotta by the 1925 and is considered the third largest in Naples it is near the Mostra d'Oltremare and the San Paolo stadium Its activation dates back to the 1927 in a square at that time named after the homonymous poet It is located in Fuorigrotta and leads to a bus stop The stop is located in the Chiaia district and guarantees interchanges for the port and the airport is located in the homonymous square not far from Via dei Mille and Piazza dei Martiri It also serves the Funicular and various trains to Castellammare di Stabia The station includes a Funicular stop and is close to the Cumana and Circumflegrea stations the stop is connected to the 1 Museum Line Station via an underpass with a treadmill It is located in the homonymous square located in the center of Naples and is not far from San Gregorio Armeno It is located in the square of the same name and presents interchanges for the Circumvesuviana the station of Central Naples and the 1 Line Its activation dates back to the 1925 and is an important connection node The airport was completed in the 1927 and was the terminus of the 2 Line up to the 2014 Connects to the Business Center and provides for the transit of various trains to Castellammare di Stabia but it is the terminus of the 2 Line only from the end of the 2014 It is located halfway between the two districts and includes several trains of the Naples-Salerno section This commission does not entail any additional price for the user.