Cortina '26:the movement against the unsustainable Olympics relaunches the protest

In view of Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, which will begin in exactly two years (6 February 2026), a week of celebrations began yesterday between Cortina, Trento and other locations.However, there are many critical issues linked to the sporting event, including exorbitant costs and "environmental havoc" denounced by environmentalist associations.Precisely for this reason, activists have organized a series of protest initiatives, including marches, demonstrations and flash mobs, to relaunch the "no" to the major works that should be carried out in these two years.The Unsustainable Olympics Committee – IOC 2026, among the main promoters of the protests, in particular has reported "the negative impact" of the event, including "environmental devastation", "violent transformation of the social fabric" and promotion of a "crazy model of mountain tourism" now unsustainable "on a social and environmental level".The initiatives will culminate in the large protest march planned for Saturday 10 February in Milan.

From yesterday until Saturday, aperitifs, flash mobs and assemblies will constitute meeting moments to discuss the environmental and social impact of the sporting event.As reiterated by activists, the works that the government would like to carry out for the Olympics, in addition to having exorbitant costs (3.6 billion euros of public investments, in the face of profits that will mostly go into the pockets of private individuals) will also most likely remain unused after the end of the event, with a devastating impact on the environment and the population.Eight million euros will be used for the construction of 800 meters of ring road in the Alute Plain area, at high risk of hydrogeological instability, while 81 million will be allocated to the construction of the Cortina bobsleigh track which, in all likelihood, will remain unused after the end of the competitions (exactly like the one built for the Turin 2006 Winter Olympics), becoming yet another ecomonster in the middle of the mountains.Furthermore, for the construction of the runway, the felling of 500 centuries-old larches in the Ronco area is planned, for which the company Infrastrutture Milano Cortina 2026 has awarded the contract very quickly, to shorten the opening times of the construction sites as much as possible .The water resources of the mountains, also denounces the Committee, will also be dried up, also given the fact that less and less snow falls on the peaks.Furthermore, the event will involve a huge increase in the cost of living, which will have repercussions on the inhabitants of working-class neighborhoods, most likely leading to their expulsion.“The Olympics are yet another emergency governance device, used to simplify the rules and facilitate the devastation of the territories” and “they will leave Milan with 5 million square meters of urban and building transformations, with further land consumption and air pollution air”, denounce the activists.

In short, the "no" side has a long and varied list of reasons why the 2026 Cortina Olympics could have a devastating environmental and social impact.“What we propose is a joint mobilization, in the week of February 6, 2024, exactly two years from the start of the Olympic Games” writes the Committee, in calling the population to the big demonstration next Saturday.

[by Valeria Casolaro]