X Factor and concerts in Piazza Plebiscito, Naples: massive waste and a seized city.

by Januaria Piromallo 

The film repeats itself at a compulsive pace: music stars parading in concert in the heart of Naples, in Piazza del Plebiscito, one of the most iconic squares in the city and in Italy, sequestered for days by musical performances. Individual singers, musical celebrations, and, last but not least, the final of the X Factor singing competition, broadcast worldwide by Sky, which, due to the mobilization of resources and personnel, makes the Sanremo Festival seem like an oratory competition.

In September 2025 alone, there were 14 concerts in Piazza del Plebiscito, always with the same people, disastrous environmental results: an entire area of ​​the city completely paralyzed, residents and shopkeepers in the area furious at having become helpless prisoners of these shows, no real advantage for tourists (indeed, further damage: tourists certainly don't like areas of Naples seized and forbidden for singers' performances). And the day after It recalls the worst invasions in the history of the squatters in Naples: garbage everywhere, damage to streets, monuments, and urban decor. A devastation for which no one is accountable, while the damage, directly or indirectly, is paid for by the citizens. It also presents a distorted idea of ​​how to "enhance" on paper, but in reality damage, magical places of beauty, which for a few days become the private property of individuals or companies, as we also saw on the occasion of the Besoz wedding to Venice. 

The massive waste of music, along with its associated shows, which is overturning urban centers (Naples is no exception, and similar stories are recorded in other Italian cities) reaches its peak with the mega-spectacle of the X Factor final held right in Piazza del Plebiscito, at the beginning of December. 

Here it is worth doing some calculations, to understand the extent of the waste of public moneyThe show It brought in several million euros for Sky, including television rights and the usual barrage of sponsorships (by the way, are the sponsors, including some major national corporations, with the state as the main shareholder, in favor of seizing the squares for these singing performances?). Artists, judges, protagonists, and extras were hired with star-level contracts (and this, perhaps, is understandable), and they took home a nice bundle of money and popularity. And what remains for the municipality of Naples, aside from the millions of euros in environmental damage and the disaster for the area's residents and workers? What can be considered its advantage, certainly not in terms of image, given the results?  

For the 2025 edition of the X Factor final, as far as we know, the municipal administration led by Mayor Gaetano Manfredi has provided (as it did in 2024) a 50 percent discount on the land concession fee: the maximum occupation of 13.500 square meters for 16 days (which later increased to 20 days, including the four days for dismantling) would have brought in €101,224.80, a bargain price already. Instead, only €50.612,40 was paid. By comparison, singer Gigi D'Alessio, who rented the square for €7.000 a day in September, paid a fortune! And the final insult came with the decision by Sky executives not to renew the contract for the final in Piazza del Plebiscito (fortunately for the Neapolitans...), despite the fact that the Naples city council was ready, on its knees, to grant a third (2024, 2025, 2026). Evidently, Sky executives understood that despite the enormous financial advantage of renting Piazza del Plebiscito at bargain prices, they risked paying a "hidden" but very substantial penalty due to the unpopularity of this invasion. They also faced a potential intervention, with a claim for damages, from the Court of Auditors.

The images of day after They speak louder than any complaint: to dismantle the X Factor "caravan," it required trucks of monstrous size and capacity. Obviously, smaller ones would have had to make multiple trips, at a significantly higher cost. The ethics of defending a historic site have thus been destroyed by the trucks. The square, built primarily of cobblestones and black basalt dating back to 1881, is now a chasm, with stones uprooted from their ancient cobblestones, dangerous even for those walking on them.

In 2024, again during the X Factor finale in Piazza del Plebiscito, the Labor Inspectorate discovered 21 workers paid illegally among the dismantling workers and extremely risky working conditions for the safety of the workers involved in the various activities. Not to mention thenoise pollution, of a square overflowing with people, well beyond the limits permitted by law, of traffic chaos for entire days. And all, the ultimate paradox, of this gigantic and unsustainable urban waste, under the inert eyes of a series of institutional bodies that could have said something, all with the headquarters of their respective offices in Piazza del Plebiscito, from the Prefecture to the Superintendency of the city's monuments. show must go, the show must go on, even if it is a stab in the back of Naples and the Neapolitans, and a bad example for all other Italian art cities.

Cover image source: Sky

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