Italy Settles Bill for Tourists' Dine and Dash

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (left) who joined the growing number of Italians visiting Albania on holiday this summer, ensured that a local restaurant owner was not left out of pocket after four of her compatriots fled without paying their bill.

 

Meloni and her family spent a couple of days in the Balkan country this week as a guest of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, whose country is enjoying a tourist boom.

 

When news of some Italians running off without paying at a restaurant in the central city of Berat went viral in local media, Meloni stepped in to help, Rama told Italian daily LaStampa.

“Go and pay the bill for these idiots, please”, Rama quoted Meloni as telling the Italian ambassador to Albania. 

 

Francesco Lollobrigida, the Italian agriculture minister and Meloni’s brother-in-law, was on the trip to Albania too and said it was a question of national pride. “She offered to pay the bill. The ambassador was on his way back to Tirana and was available to do this”, he said. 

 

“A few dishonest individuals can’t embarrass a nation of decent people”, Lollobrigida added. 

 

Italy's embassy in Albania confirmed in a statement that they had paid the bill, reportedly around €80. "The Italians respect the rules and pay off their debts and we hope that episodes of this kind will not happen again", they said. 

 

The restaurant owner told Albania's Report TV that it was the first time customers had left his establishment without paying and said the four Italians had even complimented the food.

 

Rama (right) said in a TV interview last week that Albania expected to welcome close to half a million visitors from Italy this year. 

 

Many Italians frustrated by the cost of holidays at home are opting for the cheaper shores across the Adriatic.