An Albanian television report recently sparked outcry, after it showed officers, sent by the Italian government under Giorgia Meloni to guard migrant centers, instead touring the Albanian capital Tirana and the city of Shkoder, and enjoying saunas and Turkish baths.

The centers are empty since judges have not upheld the few detention orders issued, and so the Italian opposition were quick to jump on the report and accuse the government of paying for officers' holidays.

The leader of the opposition Democratic Party (PD) Elly Schlein, said her party would continue to call out what she called "the failure" of the Albania deal. Schlein called the policy, "an absurd waste of money" and said it had been to the detriment of Italian citizens "who have now seen their public health care and education services cut."

Read AlsoItaly: Tough migration decree becomes law

Waiting for further court decisions

The much-vaunted by some -- and heavily criticized by others -- Albania operation is currently stalled. The two migrant centers in Shengjin and Gjader were occupied for only a couple of days by about a dozen asylum seekers who were taken to Italy after judges refused to sign off on the detention orders issued.

Rulings by the Italian Court of Cassation and the European Court of Justice are awaited on the case prior to being able to proceed with further transfers, confirmed Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi on Friday.

"We are waiting to see" what will happen, he said. "This is a period in which there is no urgent need to activate the center. The number of people disembarking has decreased a great deal. We will see how things go and then we will make a decision," he added.

Read AlsoItaly begins withdrawing staff from the Albanian migrant centers

'When we don't work, we engage in tourism for free'

Meanwhile, however, the two facilities set up after months of complex works are guarded -- despite being empty-- to prevent damage and vandalisation. There are thus about a hundred security forces, with an expected 300 to be deployed when the operation is entirely up and running at full capacity, to guard them 24-hours a day with each on duty for 15 days at a time.

In Shengjin on the coast, the security forces are lodged at the five-star hotel Rafaelo, which has a pool and a spa.

Correspondents from Albania's Piranjat TV pretended to be tourists and secretly filmed interactions with some of the Italian security forces there.

"We came for work but when there is no work we are tourists.They pay us to be tourists. Yesterday I was at Durres - it's beautiful. And in Shkoder two days ago. Tomorrow I want to go and visit Tirana. The Italian government pays. It's all free," one says. One of the Italians filmed asks a female corespondent for her number.

Read AlsoNGOs say Italy-Albania deal 'violates code of medical ethics and human rights'

Direct accusations and irony from opposition

"Why should we throw Italians' money away like this? Why leave the security forces on holiday in Albania when we need them in our suburbs and our stations? Can those who voted for Giorgia Meloni actually accept such a scandal in silence?," Italia Viva chief Matteo Renzi asked.

Riccardo Magi, secretary of Più Europa, opted for a more ironic tone, referencing Italy's cinematic tradition of producing popular Christmas comedy films for the whole family to enjoy at this time of year. The films often involve laughing both at Italian antics abroad, as well as deploying well-worn clichés about other nations' behavior in Italy.

"After the Christmas holiday, the Meloni government gave us 'Holidays in Albania': not just some ugly comic film for Christmas at the theater; rather, a bona fide gift for Italians, who are paying over a billion euros for this flop," complained Magi.

In the eyes of Alfonso Colucci, an MP from the Five Star Movement, "it is certainly not the fault of the policemen, mortified by a government that sent them to do nothing. It is the fault of Meloni and her ruinous and useless propaganda project that has proven to be --as stated by the police in the Albanian television report-- a waste of Italians' money. Italians to whom Meloni should apologise."

"The video that is being shown across the world at this moment makes our country look ridiculous and this is the fault of Meloni and her government," concluded Filiberto Zaratti, MP from the Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra party (The Green and Left alliance).