ITALY: Santa and his Elves bring cheer to Italian shoppers

Record ID: 593393

  • Title: ITALY: Santa and his Elves bring cheer to Italian shoppers
  • Date: 14th December 2012
  • Summary: ACROBATS WAVE TO CROWD AND BOW CHRISTMAS TREE AND CROWD VARIOUS ELVES GIVE OUT TOFFEE APPLES TO CROWD (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ROME SHOPPER ROBERTA CAMPENELLI, SAYING: "In the hearts of the people, absolutely yes (there is a Christmas atmosphere). In the shops, a bit less (less commercial). But this is maybe the real sense of Christmas." FAKE SNOW FALLING IN ROME STREET VARIOUS CHILDREN PLAYING AND WAVING
  • Embargoed: 29th December 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Quirky,Religion,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA6MBJHX5NZHSUVDLD2DGTO5PYZ
  • Story Text: Shoppers in Rome on Thursday (December 13) stopped to soak up a bit of Christmas cheer as Santa and a small group of his elves put on an acrobatic show.
    If you ever wondered how Father Christmas really does make it down the chimney, this nimble Santa left you in no doubt swirling and twirling up and down a rope outside the Italian designer store Fendi.
    There were certainly more people outside the store than in, with many people commenting that there were a lot of window shoppers this year with hardly anyone actually buying goods and few Christmas parcels in sight.
    There was a good sized crowd although many of the shoppers seemed a bit gloomy about the festive season but were hoping for better things to come in the New Year.
    Consumer groups estimate Italians will spend around three percent less this Christmas than last.
    "In the hearts of the people, absolutely yes (there is a Christmas atmosphere). In the shops, a bit less (less commercial). But this is maybe the real sense of Christmas," added Roberta Campenelli who seemed to welcome a less commercial Christmas.
    Italy is the euro zone's third largest economy and has been in recession since the middle of 2011.
    Consumer spending, hit by high unemployment and tax hikes, is falling at its steepest rate since World War Two and gross domestic product is expected to shrink by more than 2 percent this year leading to another smaller contraction in 2013.
    But on the streets of Rome, the Christmas spirit was still alive, with many shoppers donating new toys for children who would be spending Christmas in the city's children's hopspital.
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