Italy equals burocrazia (bureaucracy), and there's no getting around that.
One of the things Alice can often be heard to say is: "Why do things have to take so long?"
It's frustrating, f’sure!
Especially as I have no pithy comeback, except to say: "It is what it is..." Which, while lame, is entirely the truth.
Although sometimes, just to mix it up a little, I may add: "...but we knew this before we arrived."
Her look says it all at this point, of course.
Why’s it so bad?
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| One way street ... both ways? |
And they're mostly the latter here.
When Alice complained to a friend who runs a cafe, she just shrugged and said "Ah, si…" That, apparently, was that!
It's not only procedures though.
You could argue the real problem is the slowness, inefficiency, and downright negligence of some working in ('for') the public system. Unless you 'know someone', but that's a whole different thing!
However, one of the great (only) advantages here is that once you're 'in', you're 'in'!
When you can wave your codice fiscale (tax code), carta d’identita (identity card) and/or tessera sanitaria (health insurance card) about, then the system finally begins to work for you.
And we have all those now!
It's just the getting of them that was a nightmare.
The Government’s Fault?
Just why is it so very bad then?
Well, one (very good) reason is that - besides sunshine and sights, food and wine, art and architecture, fashion and design - Italy is also famous for its 60-plus governments since the end of WWII.
Which means the infrastructure currently in place, tends to stay that way, because it takes time to change something so ingrained.
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| This year's incumbent |
Something governments in my home country and the UK, for example, have the luxury of years in office to do. And, sometimes, even have!
Here though, with the average lifespan of a post-war government being only 15 months, each have had barely enough time to change the name on the door, let alone changing something as all-encompassing as la burocrazia.
So, something that at least sort of works, albeit poorly, is pushed way down the list of things to do before I lose power.
What's needed, of course, is an intelligent and creative approach to the problem and, while many politicians have bravely attempted to tackle this massive problem, they've mostly failed.
Because the very bureaucracy they're attempting to reform resists mightily any such attempt. Meaning many changes often fall victim to the very thing they're attempting to change.
But there is still hope here.
On the Ground
And our experiences in Modica?
I think the expression: "Could've been worse..." works best.
Our introduction, while still in the UK, was applying for our codici fiscali (tax codes) via the Italian Embassy. These codes were important: Key to about every other certificate, contract, and document we needed.
The process took six long weeks, but we got 'em in the end. A good first introduction then.
Once here, amongst other things, we had to get private health insurance, and prove we had €9,000 to live on.
And here's where we met our first real obstacle. The comune claiming not only that we didn't need insurance, but the money had to be in an Italian bank. Both of which contradicted what the Italian government itself said we needed!
We argued, but they wouldn't budge.
End result? A back-and-forth with the local health department, who stated we needed residence before we could enrol with them. Something we already knew.
This took days but, in the end, the comune caved. Saying if we wanted to waste our money on private insurance, that was our concern!
They wouldn’t, however, be moved on the bank account thing, so we hastily set up one with an Italian online bank. Which they were loath to accept at first!
It did work out in the end, and we parted ‘friends’, but…
Our first real introduction to la burocrazia Italiana here!
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