Struggling Italian towns are selling off abandoned homes at bargain prices in a bid to reverse a trend of depopulation.
The picturesque town of Salemi in Sicily is the latest to offer up dilapidated properties for less than the cost of an espresso.
Over the next month, a few dozen crumbling dwellings will go up for auction with a starting price of €1, or little over a dollar.
The town’s mayor, Domenico Venuti, hopes the scheme will breathe new life into Salemi, which saw its population shrink considerably when at least 4,000 residents fled following the terrible earthquake of 1968 that rocked Sicily’s Belice Valley.
“Before launching the scheme we first had to recover the old parts of Salemi where the houses are located, upgrading infrastructures and services from roads to electric grids and sewage pipes.
“Now the town is ready for the next step.”
(CNN)
Sicily is an island just off the toe of the boot of Italy.
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