Pietro Mariani from Cagliari, Spanish by adoption, elected to the General Council of Italians Abroad

Pietro Mariani is a gentleman who has met new experiences, has never lived them passively since, still a boy, he began to hang out in the world of information technology linked to cinematography and directing. This is how he started working for local TV stations, also for Videolina, and by a whisker he did not join Fininvest, where he passed the interview with Adriano Galliani "but because of someone's veto, and I know very well who I'm talking about, not I have been confirmed ".

This disappointment led to a trip with a friend from Cagliari, Antonio Lo Faro, "the most famous pot seller on the island", to Madrid. "It was the only destination available for Christmas and New Year in 1987". A journey that changed his life.

To seal the great commitment also made in the world of Sardinian emigration to Spain, and beyond, comes a great recognition, moral but which also requires energy that Mariani, 64 years old and now retired, is ready to make available to the CGIE (General Council of Italians Abroad): appointment as director. He is one of the two - together with Giuseppe Stabile - cast from Spain. Mariani was also president of Comites (Committee of Italians Abroad) in Madrid, as well as founder of the local Sardinian club " Ichnusa ", in 2002.

His obsession is to defeat bureaucracy, and with his experience as a computer scientist he aims to simplify administrative procedures and cut time "because today a click is enough to obtain what is often harnessed by analogue".

THE NEW OFFICE IN CGIE - It is a body made up of 63 directors, 43 of whom are directly elected abroad and 20 are appointed by the government; it represents a permanent link between the Italian communities abroad and the country of origin. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation is its president.

THE FUNCTION - For his candidacy to the CGIE, Mariani presented a detailed program to be implemented over the next 5 years, in particular on bureaucracy: "Whoever designed the systems currently in force - he explains to L'Unione Sarda - has never lived in abroad, does not know the difficulties and thinks as for the Italians in Italy ".

It is no coincidence that he prefers to deal with IT issues, given that he too has experienced difficulties related to the administrative procedures of an Italian abroad, like many Sardinians in the world .

Let's take a step back: who is Pietro Mariani?

“I define myself as a television director. I started with Antonello Cara, a professor of cinematography who lived in my own building in Cagliari, who taught me the technical rudiments and suggested that I join 'La voce sarda', Gianni Onorato's network. I was the director of the 8 in the morning news, an innovation for the time. But that's not all: in those years, on Sunday mornings, Rai only broadcast the Mass, so I proposed a container program, the first in Italy for the whole family, 'Il mercante in fiera'. The success was enormous and in 1981 the recognition of the Telegatto arrived ”.

How has your career progressed?

“In 1986 I tried to join the then Fininvest. They were looking for a manager for the technological part, the interview with Adriano Galliani had gone well and, back in Sardinia, I waited for a call from them. Eventually a phone call came, but from another person, who said to me: 'You are a good professional but your hiring has been vetoed.' I don't mention names, but I know where it came from. The world collapsed on me, even then there was no meritocracy. I was so dejected that I wanted to leave and the first occasion was a holiday for Christmas and New Year in 1987. The destination chosen, with my friend Antonio Lo Faro, the most famous pot seller on the island, was Asia but it was sold out, there was only Madrid free ”.

The first meeting with the Spanish capital.

“And that has also changed my life. But it all started from that journey. One evening in a club we met Chunga, the prima flamenco dancer. Not just any one: the Chunga, which means 'defective', nickname given to her because she was sleepwalking as a child, was Dali's muse. She took a liking to us and made us enter the chic world of Madrid, she made her entrance into the ballrooms and the crowd split into two wings, she was adored by everyone, and us behind as valets ".

Finished vacation, back to Cagliari?

“Yes, to the real world. I worked and regularly went to Milan for the schedules of Odeon TV which in Sardinia was distributed by Sardegna 1. One day, by chance, I met my friend Antonio at Linate. Let's go crazy: let's take a plane to Madrid. In short, we began our adventure by playing the card of luck. For 10 months I traveled all over Spain to learn the language very well. When the money was running out, I stopped to look for a job. I had met the Spanish cable TV Berlusconi at a fair in Seville, Antonio Carrillo, who wanted me as chief operating officer. 'You are not Spanish and therefore they will respect you', he would say to me. The salary was good, I started on November 1st 1989 and stayed for almost five years. Basically I transformed his company that had only one channel into an industrial company that distributed 30 channels, with over 300 employees ".

What about private life?

“In those years I met my wife, we got married in 1990. In her village I was probably the only foreigner they had seen in the last 200 years. We had two daughters and I'm also a grandfather ”.

Did you have any problems related to immigration to Spain?

“To be hired, I went to the foreigners office to apply for a residence and work permit. I made endless lines with Chinese, Africans, very few Europeans. I got my first permit at the end of 1989, the duration of which was six months. I could not have anything else: the employer presented my permanent contracts but they were not accepted since my professional profile was considered too competitive compared to those of the Spaniards, therefore competition. For three years I suffered discrimination, without royal citizenship rights, like a refugee. Things that nowadays also happen in Italy, and tears come to my eyes since I have experienced them on my skin ".

It also happened elsewhere.

“Of course, in Switzerland, in Belgium: the Italians were considered slaughter fodder. Not foreigners, worse: numbers, who contributed something but received nothing in return ".

Then things changed.

“Yes, when I started my own cable TV service business, I became a commercial agent and distributor of satellite television rights for major TVs. Thanks to important contracts, the real turning point has come, returning then also to my first activity, that of manager of the transformation from analog to digital. Where there was a trellis there was me. The crisis came in 2008: I closed myself at home until 2012 and dedicated myself to solidarity ".

When did you start in Comites?

“In 2003 I was elected councilor of the Comites of Madrid. I studied the laws, and I also recovered the Italian spirit. In 2015, on the occasion of the renewal, I presented my list, I won the elections and I became president of the Comites of Madrid which I managed for 6 years, putting my experience in the various fields at the service of all: communication, internet, networks social networks, the transition from analogue to digital. And it worked: today I have contacts with thousands of people linked to emigration, I am present in many groups in the social world where Italians who emigrate ask for first-hand information ".

And the Sardinians in Spain?

“Today there are not many, there were many more 20 years ago. Their presence has decreased because Sardinia has absorbed, with the generational change, many young people who have studied computer science in universities, therefore those with lower level qualifications continue to emigrate. But, beware, bricklayers or electricians do not leave: they have no possibility of staying in Spain, there is too much competition here ”.

The Sardinian clubs?

“I was one of the founders of the one in Madrid together with Gianni Garbati in 2002, the one in Barcelona was born earlier thanks to Raffaele Melis. Those who frequent them are about a hundred in Madrid, about 300 in Barcelona. There will be many other Sardinians in these cities but they are not involved. Because these associations no longer have the function of aggregation of the past: getting together, having a Sardinian dance and singing the battorina are things that young people no longer care about ”.

Who is the emigrant?

“First of all someone who thinks about where he started from: his only goal is to blend in, to learn the language. Those who left in the 60s and 70s did not have a great culture, the only escape valve was to aggregate, to group, to defend themselves against the 'enemy'. With Europe united everything has changed, today we do not want to be recognized as foreigners from a cultural point of view ”.

Did the Italian state make a contribution to those who were leaving?

“There was a big hole that I realized: Italy helped the growth of clubs and patronages but then it lost the train, the new technology arrived and it did not adapt. It is there that the CGIE was born, which should interpret the changes to push institutions to modernize. The most serious problem today is: when should those who decide to leave Italy be informed? On departure or on arrival? For me at the start. A Cagliari, for example, who wants to go to Australia must be able to go to his municipality and ask for information on how to get around. The official can explain to him how to obtain residence and work permits, things that young people do not know and risk banging their heads against the wall, losing months and money before understanding how the country they have chosen works. After all, emigration cannot be stopped ”.

Emigration or expatriation?

“Those who emigrate know they can't go home anymore, it hardly happens anymore. Homeland is where you are born, your country, your traditions ".

Portugal has recently joined the new destination countries.

“It's growing a lot. On the one hand, the Italian pensioners, who go there six months a year, on the other hand, the young people since the large multinationals are hiring in the multilingual contact center sector, also give the house, the salary is not high, with six-month contracts in six months. Whoever is good has a career ”.

Were you better or luckier?

“Sometimes I've been in the right place at the right time, but the opportunities I've had I've been able to exploit and squeeze to the end. I have been attentive to the changes and signals that life has given me, and in my small way I have tried to return luck to those who have not had it. When we leave our comfort zone we have to walk with an open mind, nothing happens by chance ".