The villeggiatura survives on the Albenga plain

An opinion essay in the Guardian this week turns to the Albenga plain, on the Riviera di Ponente, as a living monument to Italy's villeggiatura — the month-long August break. The author, Jamie Mackay, describes the area as a place where families still gather under eucalyptus trees, play cards and nap through the afternoon heat, a corner of the coast that has resisted the boutique lidos that now line much of the Ligurian shore.

The essay traces the ritual's roots to the Renaissance, when nobles retreated to countryside villas, and its transformation in the 1960s into a mass working-class right, won by powerful trade unions and supported by firms like Fiat and Olivetti, which shut down for August and funded seaside colonies for workers' children.

For this bureau, the piece touches a familiar local truth: the Riviera di Ponente, and the Albenga plain in particular, remains a place where the old rhythms of the summer pause persist, even as the surrounding coast shifts toward higher-end tourism. The essay is a commentary, not a news report, but its portrait of the region's character is recognisable.