Hours before the curtain officially fell on Milano Cortina 2026, hundreds of protesters took to Verona’s streets in a rally over housing costs and environmental concerns linked to the event.
Involving a march behind a banner that read “Olimpiadi no grazie” (“Olympics, no thanks”), the protest was organised by university students and associations who oppose the Winter Olympics, which they say deepens social inequality and pours concrete onto fragile land.
“We are here to defend our territory from speculation … and from the impossible cost of attending events,” 76-year-old activist Giannina Dal Bosco said, according to Reuters.
Other protesters criticised public money being invested on Olympic venues that won’t be used after the event, instead of housing.
Arena di Verona, the ancient Roman amphitheatre where the closing ceremony is being held, is slightly smaller than Milan’s San Siro Stadium – 22,000 seats compared with 76,000 – which means tickets to the closing ceremony are harder to snag, and re-sellers are taking full advantage.
On Friday, according to the Milano Cortina 2026 ticketing website, tickets were fetching as little as €3190 ($5317) and as much as €6380 ($10,634). That’s a minimum of $2658.50 an hour for the event.
Staging an Olympic event can be hit or miss for host cities financially. Milano Cortina 2026’s operating budget, for example, blew out from $US1.3 billion ($1.8 billion) to $US1.7 billion ($2.4 billion), and that’s apart from other public infrastructure costs, such as venue construction, which, Reuters reported, included $US3.5 billion ($5 billion) in public money.
Early estimates suggested Milano Cortina 2026 would drive an economic impact of €5.3 billion ($9 billion) in Italy. A demonstration in Milan on the Winter Olympics’ first day drew nearly 10,000 protesters and turned violent.
