As G7 Culture Ministers gathered in Naples and Pompeii over the weekend, September 21-22, a row over whether France or Italy owns Rome’s iconic Spanish Steps erupted reopening old wounds. "I am really very astonished that one can interpret and distort the meaning of a report by the French Court of Auditors that addresses the French and in particular the ‘Pieux Établissements’ for the management of religious property in Italy," Pierre Moscovici, the President of the Court of Auditors, told the Italian news agency ANSA. His comments were aimed at calming tensions that had arisen over the ownership and maintenance of the steps - a subject that exploded earlier this month following the publication of a report by the French Court of Auditors on the real estate managed by France in Rome.
In the report, French magistrates wrote that a “confirmation of the legal status” of the Spanish Steps is needed to “clarify responsibilities in terms of maintenance and restoration”. The site was designed by Italian architects Francesco De Sanctis and Alessandro Specchi between 1723 and 1726. However, it was built with “French funds and managed until the end of the 19th century by the Pieux Établissements,” the report states.
Thereafter, its care was always Italian and was negligent, the French judges argued. Among the first to comment on the report last week was Italy's Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè: "What would France be without Italy. They cannot do without our luxu.