2016/2017 Separation Referendum

The most recent movement for separation between Terraferma and Estuario starting in 2016 and was led by the civil group “Comitato Mestre-Venezia.” It came to a finality with a petition of many signatures of people calling for a referendum that got vetoed by the city council on September 15th 2016, though another vote is in the works for 2017.

Political Developments Leading up to 2016

One motivator for greater regional authority was the Delrio law of 2015, which envisioned a conglomeration of cities with many authoritative centers but cooperate on common transportation, infrastructure, and other “metropolitan policies”. Many details of this reorganization were left to regional governments, but the Metropolitan area of Venice has yet to define subsections to break up the region. The key driver of this movement, “Comitato Mestre-Venezia” has proposed the split of the Comune di Venezia, including the mainland and lagoon islands, into the Comune di Venezia and Comune di Mestre. This split was not envisioned as a complete divide but rather a way to provide further opportunities for work and development and to reduce administrative waste and costs for governments. The “Comitato Mestre-Venezia’s” argument was that Mestre would be allowed to grow economically and become more competitive. Meanwhile, Estuario would be able to solve the problems the locals have with an abundance of tourists. Despite the efforts of “Comitato Mestre-Venezia” and other separation groups, the City Council vetoes a referendum for separation claiming that it would be “expensive and meaningless” .

See Also

• Separation Referendums