A chain of mafia-themed restaurants in Spain has given rise to anger and outrage in Italy.
The chain has expanded to 34 “La Mafia” restaurants since the first one opened in 2000. Plans are afoot for a further 15 outlets, including one in Portugal.
Under posters of well-known Mafiosi, such as the Godfather, Al Capone and Lucky Luciano, customers eat pizza or pasta.
Its “Mafia Fidelity Club” is open to regulars and provides a 5% discount on meals and prize draws.
Thanks to an article in La Repubblica newspaper, Italians have just discovered the existence of “La Mafia” and are not amused. La Repubblica wondered if Italy opened restaurants dedicated to the terrorist Basque separatist group ETA.
Italians are too often confronted with the Camorra dumping and burning toxic waste in the countryside near Naples, the ‘Ndrangheta of Calabria importing cocaine and the Cosa Nostra demanding protection money from Sicilian businesses.
One Italian senator vowed to lobby officials to put pressure on Spain to change the restaurants’ name. He said: “To use the word mafia in a commercial brand is squalid and unacceptable. It’s an offence to all those people who have given their lives in the defence of legality and justice.”
But Pablo Martinez, a spokesman for La Mafia Franchises, told La Repubblica: “I apologise to any Italians who feel offended but it was really not our intention. There are no violent images in our restaurants. Mafia is a word that attracts attention.”
