Italy’s mythic ‘month off’ in August was hard won. It would be good for us all | Jamie Mackay

The villeggiatura, a month-long break, was popularised in the 1960s when trade unions were strong – and so was economic productivity On the Riviera di Ponente, sandwiched between the glitzy resort towns of the Ligurian coast, sits the Albenga plain. Dotted with campsites and bungalows, the area developed during Italy’s postwar boom as an affordable refuge for workers to escape the smog of nearby industrial cities like Turin and Milan. While much of the surrounding coast is now given over to boutique lidos, this corner of the riviera is still a place where families gather in the shade of eucaly