Cervia, "a municipality in boom"

During EIMA International took place the award ceremony of the Comuni Fioriti d’Italia contest.  Overall winner of the 2014 edition is the city of Cervia (Ravenna), while Meran (Bolzano) stands out in the category of touristic towns, La Magdeleine (Aosta) for municipalities from 1,000 to 5,000 inhabitants and Stresa for those over 5,000 inhabitants. The prizes were given by the newly elected “Miss Comuni Fioriti” Elisa Mazzucchelli (elected precisely during the Bologna event). Three Italian municipalities in bloom will also have an international visibility: the city of Cervia will be the first reality to represent Italy in the International Challenge of Communities in Bloom (World Circuit), while Meran and La Magdeleine will be the Italian candidates for the European Circuit, “Entente Floreale”. During the event, the President of AsProFlor (Italian Association of Flower Nurseries Manufacturers) Renzo Marconi recalled that “the thousand aspects of Italy in bloom reflect an image of both nature and territory made up of culture, vocations and different stories. Stories which are different but not opposite, let alone rival. A miscellaneous background, which converged for the past eight years in the circuit of Comuni Fioriti d’Italia, created by the Association of the Italian Flower Nurseries Manufacturers”. “The goal is ambitious – added Marconi – especially in times of crisis, and aims in particular at promoting tourism and the territory, by enhancing the green culture. The large attendance at EIMA is for us even more convincing than the great growth potential of Comuni Fioriti”. To describe municipalities in bloom, AsProFlor publishes every year a guide book and distributes over 120,000 copies free of charge from end to end of the peninsula. The guide depicts villages and towns of blooming Italy through history, monuments, green itineraries, cultural events and information on accommodation.