Honk, jollity or intimidation? The "De Luca case" in Barcelona becomes a mystery

Barcelona Pozzo di Gotto, in the midst of the lively campaign for the 2026 Municipal Elections, has become the stage for a political case born from an apparently marginal episode. On the afternoon of Sunday, March 15, 2026, Cateno De Luca, leader of the movement “South Calls North”, reported on his social media channels that he had been “chased and threatened” by four people in a dark-colored Mercedes.

At that moment, De Luca was crossing the city to support the candidacy for the position of mayor of lawyer Melangela Scolaro. Barcelona Pozzo di Gotto is considered a crucial ground for the movement's territorial strategy, which has been engaged for months in public meetings in anticipation of the electoral contest. The political leader's report immediately triggered a widespread institutional and media response.

However, a few hours later, the account was radically called into question. Lawyer Giuseppe Imbesi, attorney for the alleged perpetrator of the intimidation — who recognized himself in the videos circulated online — issued a statement categorically excluding any mafia connection. According to the defense, his client “slowed down and honked the horn solely as a greeting and participation” while passing near De Luca's group of supporters.

A detail deemed significant by the lawyer: the driver is the brother of a candidate included in the lists supporting the same Melangela Scolaro. Imbesi described the episode as “at most a prank,” judging the use of the term “mafia” as “disproportionate, inappropriate, and seriously damaging.”

In an attempt to bring the matter “back within its real perimeter,” that is, as a fact devoid of threatening content, his client has immediately offered to voluntarily present himself to the Carabinieri to make statements and clarify the misunderstanding.