Italians Keep Face by Faking Holidays

[kskiska]

"So where are you going on holiday?"

It is a question you hear everywhere in Italy in the weeks leading up to summer.

And in the land of "bella figura" (keeping up appearances), almost no one says "nowhere".

Yet, according to a survey published yesterday, some 3 million Italians fake their holidays.

The phenomenon of Italy's phony vacationers has been known about for some time. Two years ago, it supplied the plot for a film - Mari del Sud - about an executive who discovers he has been swindled out of his money but, rather than lose face, locks himself in a cellar for two weeks in the summer with his family.

(snip)

Two-thirds said they would make sure they informed themselves about the resort they were pretending to visit. But some were ready to go to quite extraordinary lengths to keep up the pretence: 24% were planning to buy an ultra-violet lamp to get a fake tan and 19% intended taking their plants to a neighbour.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,12576,1012483,00.html