Is It Finally Time To Cancel The Palio di Siena?
"There are too many events, too many legacies that include the exploitation of animals. If Catalonia has renounced bullfight, we can cancel some Palio," Italian Minister of Tourism Michela Brambilla said. I agree; I hope Palio di Siena will find a similar end, sooner or later.
Palio di Siena or Il Palio is the twice per year horse race between the city wards of Siena. They compete one against the other to win the Palio, a big drappo that changes every time. There are 17 city wards, but only 10 run the race. And if one city ward doesn't run, it supports another one as an alliance, mainly against a ward that is its enemy. I don't like Il Palio. It's an out-of-date race. There is a lot of verbal violence between human beings and physical violence from the humans against the horses.
Il Palio is a paradigm: the summary of Italian paradox.
The paradox is that the Il Palio has rules, but you can do whatever you want to win.
Before the start, riders talk to each other to look for an agreement, using money that people of every city ward collect and give them to bribe the others. During the race, horses are whipped by the riders in a violent way. And, this year, the Public Prosecutor's office impounded dope analysis tests of 8 horses, although those horses weren’t chosen to run the race.
Palio di Siena - it's the summary of Italy: illegal behavior is justified by the people, although it is against the rules.
And the more you have illegal behavior, the more you will be famous.
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