Milan - Milan's Expo 2015 opens on Friday with hopes the six-month food-themed world fair will be a catalyst for economic revival competing with fears it will simply underline Italy's deep-seated problems.
The first global exhibition since Shanghai's groundbreaking hosting five years ago has been beset by delays which mean the site will be far from being fully completed when it opens to the public at 0800 GMT.
Corruption scandals, fears of violent protests and evidence of a fledgling economic recovery running out of steam have all dampened the mood in the run-up to the six-month event.
But Italy is a past master at delivering at the 11th hour -- the finishing touches to some of the stadiums for the 1990 World Cup came within minutes of kick-off.
And a spectacular eve-of-opening concert, featuring tenor Andrea Bocelli, Chinese pianist Lang Lang and the choir and opera of the city's renowned La Scala opera house performing in front of Milan's magnificent Gothic cathedral, was a reminder of the country's capacity to compensate with creativity for its shortcomings in the more humdrum aspects of event planning.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has been bullishly predicting that it will all be alright on the night, facing down the opponents who say a state with Italy's unsustainable debt should not be ploughing money into an event that is, by definition, ephemeral in nature.
Those opponents are due to stage a major march on Friday and fears of a spillover into violence were raised by incidents on the eve of the opening, when a few dozen masked protestors attempted to spray-paint and smash the windows of a branch of Manpower, an employment agency that is one of the official partners of the Expo.
AFP
