Journalist for the super-followed Radio24 where he hosts a very useful and valuable broadcast: “Two of Pentacles” – in which it tries to make finance and above all the topic of saving understandable to everyone – was born in the Marche region.
Born in the Marche region until 1997, she was called to Milan, after a journalistic internship - a real hard apprenticeship at TVRS in Recanati, a very popular local TV station - and began her real, important career as an economic journalist in the editorial staff of Il Sole 24 hours and hours, radio host.
1) Ever miss the Marche Debora?
The Marche is the land where my entire family lives so, despite having moved to Milan in '97, I have never considered the move to Lombardy to be a 'radical' move. I have always spent the holidays in Castelfidardo, I have traveled a lot over the years but I have also always spent part of the summer holidays here, with relatives and friends. So I'm relatively nostalgic because the relationships with the Marche are solid and I have no reason to be nostalgic. However, even in Milan I have found my dimension and I try to live the two dimensions in a balanced way and I enjoy the fortune of being from the Marche region, the privilege of being born in an enviable place, the possibility of having a very comfortable refuge. A healthy nostalgia, luckily I come back when I want.
2) The people of the Marche are a people of savers, perhaps this is where you drew inspiration for your show?
Let's say that I came to do my show on Radio 24 completely by chance, after a good journey with Il Sole 24 Ore, and perhaps the fact of being of Marche origins unconsciously pushed me to deal with these issues. The concreteness of the Marche, but also the roughness that I attribute to myself and the 'feet on the ground' that I recognize are characteristics and qualities of the people of the Marche which also make them people of savers. A population of people who save and who love bricks and mortar: home ownership is a timeless attitude, also because many families have inherited properties from previous generations and are trying to understand how to manage them because they don't always have the ability to make the most of these riches. It would be nice to carry out an educational campaign towards the 'young generations of heirs' so that they are put in a position to consider these assets not as a problem or a burden, but as a treasure, a possibility also to create alternative incomes which certainly should not be disdained.
3) What do you like about the Marche and what not?
I hope not to attract too much disappointment with what I will say but I will try to explain myself as best I can. Very often, when I tell them that I am from the Marche region, people emphasize how lucky I am to have been born in a seaside town on the Adriatic. In fact it is like this, because I am from Castelfidardo and therefore my sea is that of the Conero Riviera, that of Numana, Sirolo, Porto Recanati. My town is less than 10 kilometers from these renowned seaside resorts. But, in my opinion, the coastal area is not the most attractive part of our region. Our sea, unfortunately, is a 'closed sea', it does not have an optimal condition (we have also seen this recently following the flood that hit central Italy, Emilia Romagna and also the northern part of the Marche and all consequences on bathing). Therefore, to those who ask me for advice on where to go in the Marche in the summer, I suggest not just imagining an exclusive seaside holiday, but considering the sea as a point of support and then identifying alternative itineraries and visiting the Marche especially in the hinterland, the which I consider absolutely the most beautiful in our region, from north to south. I am in love with the views and the hills, the expanses of wheat and sunflowers between June and July and the rows of vines in autumn. I love what many consider the worst flaw in my region: the 'low profile' attitude of the people from the Marche region, the low profile, the desire to remain a little out of the way even when they would have every right to enhance their territory. But it is precisely this modesty that produces the 'wow' effect in those who discover us calmly, the surprise in those who do not expect to find in this region a concentration of history, culture, gastronomic delights, traditions and architectural beauties, sea, hills and mountain together, all within a few kilometers of each other.
4) Are you exactly from where? Because the biography talks about Ancona, a city with a maritime tradition rather than an agricultural one... and in any case, do you ever come back?
Yes, as I said before I have my whole family here and I always come back, at least once a month for 26 years (I moved to Milan in 1997). I am exactly from Castelfidardo, the city of the accordion, of Paolo Soprani and the town of the historic battle of 18 September 1860.
5) What do you see as changed since you left?
The territory has changed a lot, in certain areas there are industrial areas that are an eyesore but which have also allowed the development of our region from the point of view of economic, productive and commercial activities. I'm not entirely convinced that it is a region that has opened up much to the world, even if we have many examples of companies that have a notable international reputation. I believe that from this point of view there is still a lot to do. I felt the change I would like to underline strongly during the pandemic period, when I spent the whole summer in the Marche region as I hadn't done for a long time. Having hosted several Milanese friends, I accompanied them to places that I hadn't seen for years and I completely rediscovered them too and I noticed a strong redevelopment in the field of tourist reception: truly quality farmhouses, country houses, B&Bs have sprung up everywhere, in short, finally the tourist vocation of the region seems to have taken off in a more mature way, overcoming that which wanted to be only concentrated towards the Adriatic coast but showing that it finally wants to focus on the territorial wonders of the hinterland.
6) Since the entry of the euro, but also a few years before, the Marche has been chosen by foreigners, mainly Europeans but also overseas, as a place of excellence for living in contact with nature, in the wake of Tuscany before and 'Umbria then, they have renovated many farmhouses, the last census spoke of 77.000 existing rural buildings, of the original 110.000, what do you think about this constantly growing phenomenon?
In fact, that's exactly what I wanted to describe in the previous answer. Meanwhile, I am enormously pleased to have been placed on the same level as Tuscany which has always been the dream of foreigners, but only because they didn't know us. Now, fortunately, investments to redevelop our rustic buildings and our farmhouses are arriving here too, with citizens from all over the world who also courageously face all the non-trivial bureaucratic issues that must be addressed to put the properties they purchase according to the building regulations which are quite stringent, as you well know 😊. So it is a phenomenon of which I think every possible good, also to give an international touch to our region which needs to be talked about.
7) You would return to live in the Marche, perhaps in a farmhouse immersed in the rolling hills, "from which you can gaze upon endless spaces and superhuman silences, where the heart is almost afraid" to put it in the words of Giacomo (Leopardi), our poet of the Infinite ?
It's a thought that has crept into my head for some time and I continually look around to understand where - if I could do it right now - it would be nice to be able to make an investment and how much economic effort would be necessary to undertake to undertake such an operation . Properties are not just bought and renovated but they must be maintained and well looked after, and you must live in them and make them live, breathe, not stay there for two months and keep them closed for the rest of the year. I have a great passion for American country houses (I'll just tell you that I organized my last American trip with the aim of arriving in Waco, Texas, to visit the Silos of Chip and Joanna Gaines, protagonists of a successful television series on renovationshttps://www.livingspaces.com/inspiration/celebrity-designer/magnolia-home
https://www.pinterest.it/raffaellacamate/joanna-gaines-magnolia-homes
At the moment I consider it quite obvious that once my professional career is over I will return to live in the Marche and it would be a dream to find a rustic property and renovate it according to my taste. I believe that if I could ever start this project, Vallesina will be the right area, possibly with a vineyard to produce my favorite red, Lacrima di Morro D'Alba.
