As the Italians would say, “andiamo!” Let’s go!
One region in Italy wants to pay you $33,000 to move there, according to CNN.
It is a magical time to be in Italy this summer as the country is still celebrating its Euro2020 victory from earlier this month, the Italian band Måneskin won Eurovision song contest, and the streets are filling with life again following a year of coronavirus lockdown.
With all of that happening, it is the best time to get to the peninsula — especially if the Calabria region is going to give you $33,000 to do it.
As the population of the region declines, Calabria is offering people the money over a maximum of three years to relocate to its tiny villages with barely 2,000 residents, CNN reported.
The region is home to lush mountains and the sea, and people can pick and choose where they want to be.
However, there is a catch.
In order to get the money, new residents must also commit to kickstarting a small business from the ground up or acquire an existing establishment that is needed by locals, CNN said.
Applicants must be at most 40 years old and must be ready to relocate to Calabria within 90 days from their successful application. The hope is to boost younger folks who are eager to work and revitalize the area.
"We're honing the technical details, the exact monthly amount and duration of the funds, and whether to include also slightly larger villages with up to 3,000 residents," Gianluca Gallo, a regional councilor, told CNN. "We've had so far a huge interest from villages and hopefully, if this first scheme works, more are likely to follow in coming years."
In recent years, many regions in Italy have been selling homes for one Euro in order to do what Gallo has planned for Calabria. Gianpietro Coppola, mayor of Altomonte, a town in Calabria, argues that this plan is more sustainable than the one Euro home.
"We want this to be an experiment of social inclusion. Draw people to live in the region, enjoy the settings, spruce up unused town locations such as conference halls and convents with high-speed internet. Uncertain tourism and the one euro houses are not the best ways to revamp Italy's south," Coppola told CNN.
CNN reported that 75% of Calabria towns, which is about 320 villages, currently have fewer than 5,000 residents. The fears of locals and politicians is that these towns may die in the coming years.
"The goal is to boost the local economy and breathe new life into small-scale communities," Gallo said. "We want to make demand for jobs meet supply, that's why we've asked villages to tell us what type of professionals they're missing to attract specific workers."
