According to the article, Codacons, a consumer association, has appealed to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which runs Eurovision, to question whether Cash's song is appropriate for the contest.

Codacons believes the song "offends a country and an entire community" and therefore ought to be excluded from the competition in Basel this May, The Guardian reports.

"Notwithstanding the freedom of artistic expression that must characterize events such as Eurovision, we cannot help but raise doubts about the inclusion of a song that is offensive to a plurality of individuals in a competition followed by audiences all over the world," Codacons wrote in a statement, according to the article.

The UK Daily also highlighted the response to "Espresso Macchiato" from Gian Marco Centinaio, a senator with Italy's far-right League (Lega) party. Centinaio posted a party flyer on social media platform Instagram, featuring a screenshot of Tommy Cash drinking coffee from a paper cup in the video for the song with the caption "whoever insults Italy must stay out of Eurovision".

"This singer should come to Italy to see how good people work before writing such stupid songs full of stereotypes," Centinaio wrote.

However, The Guardian also reported that not everyone in Italy has the same view of Cash's Eesti Laul-winning hit.

The article drew attention to a comment on the song's video on YouTube, in which an Italian viewer vowed to vote for Estonia at this year's Eurovision. Another "'No stresso, no stresso, don't need to be depresso' – as an Italian, I think I'm going to get this tattooed," quoting Cash's lyrics.

The full article can be found on The Guardian's website here.

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