The idea of building a three-mile suspension bridge between Sicily and Italy’s mainland was notoriously a pet project of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who was keen to leave a major landmark in Italy’s poorest and most remote regions. When his court of advisers flattered him with the idea that the bridge might be named the “Berlusconi Bridge” after him, the controversial politician and shrewd entrepreneur used to wave them off, saying that there was no money for the bridge, and he could not even get his name on a new football stadium in Milan. Berlusconi, who died in 2023, would have been stunned to learn that his dream might soon become reality.

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