Muslim worshippers are observing Ramadan in Italy’s two Olympic host cities this month, with markedly different experiences between Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. Milan’s Al-Wahid mosque is welcoming people of all faiths to share iftar dinners during the holy month, coinciding with the 2026 Winter Games. In Cortina, Muslim residents and visitors say finding prayer spaces is nearly impossible, with the nearest mosque more than an hour away.
Italy’s Muslim population has grown to 1.7 million, representing more than 30 percent of the foreign resident population, according to a 2025 migration research report. Yet the ability to practice Islam in Italy—from attending prayer services to observing religious holidays—remains unevenly distributed across the country, shaped by both local demographics and infrastructure.
Milan’s Al-Wahid mosque opens its doors as the Olympic Games unfold in Italy, welcoming guests from across faiths to share iftar dinners — the evening meal when Muslims break their daily fast during Ramadan. Near Milan’s Navigli district, the mosque has been officially recognized as a place of worship by the city since 2000.
The gatherings have become a signature feature of Milan’s Ramadan observance during the Games. On Feb. 20, as sunset approached, worshippers stood shoulder to shoulder beneath hanging lamps, waiting for the call to prayer. They broke their fast with dates offered on silver plates, then sat on the floor to share lentils, rice, meat and water before ending the evening with prayer.
“The Olympics are a symbolic moment,” Imam Yahya Pallavicini, vice president of COREIS, a national Islamic religious association, told the Associated Press. “Sport, culture and art can help reduce prejudice and fear toward a particular culture or religious identity.”
The interfaith iftars are scheduled weekly through March 14, the day before the Paralympics end. In recent years, such gatherings have become common across the world, from Muslim-majority countries such as Indonesia and Pakistan to places like Australia and the United States, where Muslims are a relatively small minority.
A regional perspective
These gatherings reflect Milan’s role in a significant Muslim population. A 2025 report by ISMU, a Milan-based migration research institute, estimates that nearly 400,000 Muslims live in Lombardy, the Italian region with the biggest immigrant population and home to Milan, Italy’s second-most populous city. The largest groups come from Morocco and Egypt, with communities also including people from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Bosnia.
Cortina faces a different landscape
Up in the mountains at Cortina d’Ampezzo, the experience diverges sharply. The upscale alpine town of about 5,000 people, known as the Queen of the Dolomites, has no mosque and limited prayer facilities. Muslim workers and visitors say finding a place to pray during Ramadan has proven nearly impossible.
Rabah Boubegtiten, 52, who traveled to work as a driver for Qatari Olympic security, said his search for a mosque required more than an hour’s drive on a mountain road to Brunico, the nearest town with a prayer space. He located it using social media after Google searches proved fruitless.
“There are many nationalities here, many Muslims from various countries: Algerians, Tunisians, other Africans, and many Qataris, because we are working with them during the Winter Olympic Games,” Boubegtiten, who lives in Paris and is originally from Algeria, said. “They look everywhere to find a place to pray, but it’s almost impossible. For us, it’s really difficult. Sometimes, even if we want to come, we simply can’t.”
An interfaith prayer room is available at each residential village for athletes, though it is not open to the general public.
In Brunico, residents have created informal gathering spaces. About 120 people attended Friday congregational prayer in a modest room surrounded by curtains, sitting on the crowded floor and listening to a sermon in Italian. Worshippers were asked for donations to help cover the space’s rent and utilities.
A growing Muslim presence
Among younger Muslims in Italy, perspectives on religious practice vary. Kreem Wardi, a 20-year-old student whose father is Muslim from Morocco and whose mother is Italian and Catholic, offered a perspective on observance in the country.
“In Italy, Ramadan is not an impossible thing. It is possible to practice Ramadan, it’s possible to pray,” Wardi said. “It is not easy to find a mosque everywhere in Italy. But in this area, we are fine for now, inshallah.”
Wardi noted that in Brunico, non-Muslims are not typically invited to iftar dinners or asked to share Ramadan traditions. “They maybe don’t want to talk about Islam. It’s not that they hate us Muslims, but it’s just that they are maybe not interested, so we don’t want to force it upon them,” he said.
This reflects broader religious patterns in Italy. While the vast majority of Italy’s 59 million people are baptized Catholic, about three-quarters identify with the religion and far fewer regularly attend church. Muslims now number 1.7 million in Italy, accounting for more than 30 percent of the foreign resident population for the first time, according to ISMU.
Migration over the past decade has stirred anti-immigrant sentiment in some parts of Europe. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, who heads the far-right Brothers of Italy party, pledged a crackdown on migration after taking office in 2022, with the goal of deterring refugees from attempting the dangerous Mediterranean crossing.
Yet a growing number of Italy’s Muslims are second-generation Italians, converts, and people born in the country, according to Pallavicini. Amina Croce, 28, born to Italian Catholic parents who converted to Islam, was one of the worshippers bowing in prayer at Al-Wahid on Feb. 20. She leads the youth division of COREIS.
“The mosque has been a very significant part of who I am,” Croce said. “We believe this diversity is part of Italy’s broader cultural heritage. It may still be underappreciated, but we hope it will be recognized more in the future.”
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