But the lists remain empty everywhere

In Bologna, there are no registered couples; in Pisa, in 15 years, there have been just 32 couples. Flops also in Trentino and Sardinia. But it's the "symbolic value" that counts.
FROM MILAN
The case of Gubbio is the latest to come under the spotlight, and it well represents the reality of civil union registries in Italy. On January 25th, the registry (active since 2002) in this Umbrian town was abolished by a bipartisan vote supported by the mayor, Diego Guerrini (Democratic Party). The reason? It was pointless: after nearly ten years, only one couple was registered. Civil union registries, upon closer inspection, are essentially just that: often untouched pieces of paper, yet endowed with enormous symbolic and political value for those who advocate for "new families" to be treated equally with traditional ones. It's no coincidence that the list of those who have (formally) established them is long: just a quick look at the Arcigay website reveals that numerous municipalities have activated a civil union registry, spread across Italy. And so, searching town by town, it's easy to come across applause and congratulations for the decision to "move closer to Europe" by opening up to de facto couples.
The reality, however, is that they are practically empty almost everywhere. Some cases are even shocking, like that of Bologna: a registry active since 1999, with zero registered members. A PDL city councilor recently discovered this while browsing the municipal registry office (on whose website, incidentally, the registry is well promoted). In Turin, she notes the existence of a registry, approved in 2010, with 120 registered couples. These numbers are unheard of by the municipalities that established the registry in Sardinia: Atzara (a town of 1,000 residents in the province of Nuoro) and Porto Torres have been waiting for registration applications for six and two years, respectively, and even Sassari, which established its registry office last year, hasn't registered a single assault. On the island, the same homosexual groups complain about the utter uselessness of the registries, which—in their view—are a "merely administrative" act. This didn't discourage the small town of Tissi (population 2,300), which approved the registration just four days ago. The news made less of a splash than that of Naples: it will be interesting to compare the respective, and actual, registrations in the coming weeks.