Who is Antonio Decaro, the new president of the Apulia Region
With an unprecedented consensus, Decaro consolidated the centre-left in Puglia, overcoming internal challenges and building a broad and innovative alliance
Fifty-five years old in July, a degree in civil engineering and a passion for politics. Antonio Decaro, Pd and preferences recordman at the last European elections with 498,395 votes, is the new president of the Puglia region for the centre-left. Decaro, who brought together the wide field from Iv and Action to M5s, did not want 'help from home'. So he avoided closing the election campaign with the national party bigwigs. To claim the coveted victory on 24 November. In the PD there are already those who see him as a possible reference point for the reformist wing in the competition with Elly Schlein
Early days in politics
After graduating from Bari Polytechnic, Decaro worked at Acquedotto Pugliese and Anas. Interrupting his career as an engineer was Michele Emiliano who, when elected mayor in 2004, wanted him alongside him as transport councillor for the city of Bari where he made his mark by carrying out interventions that changed the city's approach to mobility with park&ride, park&train, bikesharing and a network of cycle paths. This will not be Antonio Decaro's first time in the regional council: in 2010 he was elected with the Pd, of which he was group leader.
Mayor of Bari for two terms
Three years later, in 2013, he resigned because he was elected to Parliament. From 2014 to 2024 he returned permanently to Bari because he was elected mayor of the city for two terms. In 2016 he was elected national president of the National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI), a role in which he became a reference point for mayors during the Covid-19 pandemic and in the management of PNRR resources. He was confirmed in the post in 2019. Having completed his second term as mayor and thus also his term at ANCI, he was elected in the 2024 European elections, where he stood in the Southern Italy constituency, with a record number of preferences
To the European Parliament
At the European Parliament he was elected president of the Environment Commission. After a troubled period of reflection with the centre-left parties and not a few frictions with the outgoing president, Michele Emiliano and his predecessor, Nichi Vendola, both intending to run for the Council against his will (only Vendola then actually ran), on stage at the festa dell'Unità in Bisceglie last September, announced alongside Elly Schlein his candidacy for president of the region.
