Merkel fails to escape the heat as she takes a thermal bath on holiday isle

German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the thermal baths of Sant'Angelo d'Ischia, where she is on holiday

German Chancellor Angela Merkel enjoys the thermal baths of Sant'Angelo d'Ischia, southern Italy, where she is spending her Easter holidays

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) and her husband Joachim Sauer walk back from the Aphrodite thermal baths

Angela Merkel and husband Joachim Sauer arrive at the Italian southern island of Ischia

German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the thermal baths of Sant'Angelo d'Ischia, where she is on holiday

German Chancellor Angela Merkel enjoys the thermal baths of Sant'Angelo d'Ischia, southern Italy, where she is spending her Easter holidays

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) and her husband Joachim Sauer walk back from the Aphrodite thermal baths

Angela Merkel and husband Joachim Sauer arrive at the Italian southern island of Ischia

German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the thermal baths of Sant'Angelo d'Ischia, where she is on holiday

Josephine McKenna Rome

April 01 2013 04:06 AM

German Chancellor Angela Merkel may have donned her bathing costume for a little relaxation on the Italian island of Ischia, but she failed to escape the heat of the eurozone crisis.

Mrs Merkel was caught enjoying a private dip yesterday while holidaying with her husband on the island famous for its thermal baths off the coast of Naples.

But Stefano Caldoro, president of the local Campania region, urged the chancellor to consider the impact of the current economic crisis on those in difficulty, like failed businesses and young unemployed, during her Easter holiday.

"Here there are 10 young unemployed for every young one without work in Germany," Mr Caldoro said in a video message published by Italian media.

The video was entitled: "Welcome to our ever hospitable land Mrs Merkel. But now look around you" came with German subtitles.

In a strongly worded message, Mr Caldoro said Italians could not tolerate a "double-sided Europe" nor anti-German sentiment.

"But Chancellor Merkel should reflect: here is a stronger country that today enjoys the benefits of the crisis from others," he said. "And this is a Europe that cannot continue." (© Daily Telegraph, London)