Tourist Couples Hold the Key to Avert Italy’s Population Decline

Time and time again, Italy has served as a fairytale setting for lovers from all around the world. Romance permeates the landmarks built using slave labor, ghettos originally used to segregate Jews, and streets developed for Mussolini. The sublime historical backdrop only complements the fantastic realities of contemporary Italy.

Faced with a lack of job opportunities, young adults are living with their parents after college, prompting them to chart new realms of PDA. Inspired by this primeval passion, tourist couples vow to ignite the spark in their own relationships.

Longing to speak a Romance language, vacationing lovebirds get ample opportunities to communicate with the locals when bargaining with marginalized, Bangladeshi immigrants selling selfie-sticks.

Symbolic of true love and passion’s permanence, Italy’s monuments have withstood the test of time. The comparably archaic Roman public transit system gives couples on a budget a feel for prehistory and provides petty thieves the opportunity to celebrate their love for foreign pockets.

To top it all off, the sunset on the Mediterranean horizon is more breathtaking than ever before, as the Italian government uses asylum-seekers to provide a live-action reenactment of the Titanic. Moved by this display of raw emotion and physical struggle, tourist couples toast to Leibniz because in Italy, “all is for the best in this ‘best of all possible worlds.’”

Despite housing such fabled allures, Italy must brace for a population decline, which will span the coming decades. If anti-immigration sentiments maintain or strengthen their grip on society, the decline may be even sharper than current projections. Perhaps, it is now in the best interest of Italian nationals to view Italy from the lenses of tourists that continue to boast of legendary romantic escapades and love in the air.