Tempted by the recent offer of an Italian home for just over a $1? Well, you might want to hold out for a better deal.
Now one town in the country is offering foreigners $10,000 to move there. Another says it will even pay newcomers more than $1,000 per child to make babies.
The deals may seem too good to be true for many who dream of escaping the rat race for the idyll of a rustic Italian village. For the destinations involved, they represent a last-ditch battle to save the souls of their dying communities.
But it’s complicated — this is a country where local property regulations are often tangled up in byzantine legalities.
And, of course, it’s a place where attitudes towards foreign incomers are sometimes ambivalent, as highlighted by a recent rise in political hostility towards economic migrants arriving from Africa and the Middle East.
The latest deal to beat them all comes from Giovanni Bruno Mattiet, the mayor of the tiny Alpine village of Locana, in Piedmont, the mountainous northwestern region of Italy that borders France and Switzerland.
He’s willing to pay up to €9,000, or $10,200, over three years to families willing to move in and take up residency amid snowy peaks and flower-strewn pastures, as long as they have a child and a minimum annual salary of €6,000.
“Our population has shrunk from 7,000 residents in the early 1900s to barely 1,500 as people left looking for a job at Turin’s big factories,” Mattiet tells CNN Travel. “Our school each year faces the risk of shutting down due to few pupils. I can’t allow this to happen.”
In Locana each year there are 40 deaths versus just 10 births. It’s a familiar picture across Italy where, in the
And while Mattiet’s deal was initially offered just to Italians or foreigners already living in Italy, he’s now so desperate to save his town from dying, he’s extending it to non-Italians abroad too.
“We’re looking to draw mostly young people and professionals who work remotely or are willing to start an activity here,” he says. “There are dozens of closed shops, bars, restaurants and boutiques just waiting for new people to run them.”
The town may be small but it’s wealthy, thanks to the clean hydroelectric energy it sells to Italy’s state.
With the money comes a great location. Locana’s territory spreads across 132 square kilometers of the Gran Paradiso mountain reserve, offering fresh air and outdoor activities like ice-skating fishing, trekking, rock climbing, swimming, soccer and tennis.
Picturesque Alpine dwellings are made of stone and wood with typical pointed tile roofs and frescoed walls adorned with flowers. Old bridges cross clear streams.
The valleys are dotted with chestnut forests, solitary chapels, abandoned lodges, dairy farms, mills and copper mines in need of a restyle. Two minuscule ghost hamlets are accessible by foot only on mule paths covered by overgrown cherry shrubs.
“Locana offers a healthy lifestyle, great food and folklore fairs all-year round”, says Mattiet.
Locana isn’t the only town in Piedmont badly in need of a rebirth. A little farther north, on the Swiss frontier, the mayor of Borgomezzavalle is playing what he hopes will be a winning card.
To revitalize a population that’s dwindled to barely 320 residents, Alberto Preioni is not only selling abandoned mountain cottages for just €1 — just over $1 — he’s also paying all newcomers who are starting a family.
“This town was created in 2016 with the fusion of two neighboring villages which were disappearing,” he tells CNN Travel. “We’ve got tons of money to invest but we need kids and youth.
“That’s why I’m offering €1,000 for each newborn and another €2,000 to anyone willing to start a business and register for VAT.”
Local taxes are very low and Preioni also promises free public transport to all students. There’s not even any need to take up residency.
Borgomezzavalle — the name means “the town between the valley” — is stuck inside a canyon, but there’s sunlight all day thanks to a huge mirror placed on the opposite hillside that reflects the rays.
Brightly colored houses with thatched roofs, carved from the mountain flank, are clustered around neat cobbled piazzas with wooden benches and flower pots.
Narrow winding alleys lead to frescoed arcaded porches with decorated columns and lavish palazzos featuring loggias.
The €1 buildings on sale include crumbling wood and stone cottages, barns, stables and former farm and artisan dwellings. The only catch is that the new owners must commit to refurbishing the houses within two years.
“I invite anyone interested to come see what a peaceful place this is, our untouched nature offers a detox and unplugged stay far from the madding crowd”, says Preioni, who’s also recovering abandoned agricultural lands for use by would-be farmers.
Borgomezzavalle and Locana are just the latest in a series of towns in Italy offering cheap, dilapidated properties to foreigners or paying them to move there (and take note, it’s intended to be a permanent move, not just the offer of a cheap vacation home).
Extremely low taxes, great life quality, cheap services and rentals have successfully turned many dying spots into havens for foreign retirees.
In the Sicilian towns of Partanna, Caltabellotta, Giuliana, Siculiana and Cianciana renting a 50-square-meter apartment costs just €150 per month, while breakfast at the bar with local pastry specialties is €2.
