Cateno De Luca | |
|---|---|
| Mayor of Taormina | |
| Assumed office 29 May 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Mario Bolognari |
| Mayor of Messina | |
| In office 26 June 2018 – 14 February 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Renato Accorinti |
| Succeeded by | Federico Basile |
| Metropolitan Mayor of Messina | |
| In office 26 June 2018 – 14 February 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Renato Accorinti |
| Succeeded by | Federico Basile |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 18 March 1972 Fiumedinisi, Italy |
| Political party | South calls North |
| Alma mater | University of Messina |
| Occupation | Politician |
Cateno Roberto De Luca (born 18 March 1972) is an Italian politician who has been mayor of Messina from 2018 to 2022 and the mayor of Taormina since 2023. Due to his overbearing personality he is often nicknamed "Scateno" (English: Unleash).[1]
De Luca was born in Fiumedinisi, Sicily. At the age of 18, he began his political career by being elected to the city council of his city, and at the age of 22 was appointed councilor to the municipality. After losing the 1998 municipal election for the nomination of the new mayor of Fiumedinisi, he reapplied in 2003, succeeding this time to win. He was re-elected in 2008. In 2011, De Luca resigned as mayor of his city, the following year ran for the office of mayor of Santa Teresa di Riva, winning the first round and remaining in office until 2017.
At the 2006 Sicilian regional election, De Luca was elected deputy to the Sicilian Regional Assembly (ARS) with the Movement for the Autonomies, among whose ranks he was re-elected also to the 2008 Sicilian regional election. At the 2012 Sicilian regional election, he was a candidate for president of Sicily and was supported by the Sicilian Revolution list but obtaining 1.23% of the votes and was not re-elected to the ARS .
In 2017, De Luca founded the Sicilia Vera movement, which made an agreement with the Union of the Centre (UDC) for the 2017 Sicilian regional election, in which he is re-elected as amember of the ARS among the ranks of the UDC. On 8 November, three days after the elections, he was arrested on charges of tax evasion. Under house arrest, this conviction was subsequently revoked and replaced by an interdictive measure of the prohibition to hold top positions in the bodies involved in the investigation.
In 2018, De Luca was a candidate for mayor of Messina with the support of six centrist civic lists. He was elected to the ballot on 24 June with 65.28% of the votes, beating the centre-right coalition candidate Placido Bramanti.[2]
In the 2022 Sicilian regional election De Luca came second, with 23.95% of the vote, behind the centre-right candidate Renato Schifani, and he is re-elected as a member of the ARS.
