The first Romanian mall in Rome, Italy

A new Romanian mall was inaugurated on Sunday in Rome, Italy: in 700 sq meters, the mall hosts 11 shops, a classroom to study Romanian and a library. One of the owners is Adrian Nichifor, the Romanian whose shop was set on fire ast Guidonia. However, an extreme right Italian association submitted an official complaint, reading that the mall is just the first step to the creation of a Romanian ghetto.

La Strada center was inaugurated on March 8, with the participation of 200 people and various officials: Romania’s cultural attache George Bologan, Rome’s city hall counselor Giorgio Mori and presidents of Romanian and Italian associations.

All shops hosted in the mall are Romania, with various products: retail shop, a butchers, a Romanian patisserie, money transfer, airline tickets and a library with Romanian books and music. PR Director Ilie Simon declared that the owners aim to transform the commercial mall into a social reference point, a sort of agora for the entire Romanian community in Italy.

However, an extreme right Italian association submitted an official complaint against the new Romanian commercial mall. The organization’s President, Luciano Silighini Garagnani declared that the mall is a first step to the creation of a new Romanian ghetto.