L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 12 L'Italo-Americano I n the past couple of y e a r s , L ' I t a l o - A m e r i c a n o h a s been reporting regu- larly on the Case a 1 Euro initiatives happening all around Italy. One of the f i r s t v i l l a g e s t o j o i n t h e scheme, in an attempt to r e v i v e i t s e c o n o m y a n d social life, was Sambuca di S i c i l i a , a l s o k n o w n f o r being one of FAI's (Fondo Ambiente Italiano) Borghi più Belli d'Italia, and hav- i n g w o n t h e B o r g o d e i Borghi title back in 2016. A recent article by Silvia Marchetti for CNN took stock of the trend, discover- ing something interesting: thanks to its 1 euro homes, Sambuca has turned into a L i t t l e A m e r i c a , b e c a u s e m a n y o f t h e b a r g a i n d w e l l i n g s p u t o n s a l e i n 2019 first and, then again, in the Summer of 2021, have been snatched by US citi- zens. Sambuca is certainly a pretty place to live: located in the Agrigento province of Sicily, it is a quaint hillside v i l l a g e o f a b o u t 6 , 0 0 0 , k n o w n f o r i t s b e a u t i f u l churches and artistic and architectural ties with the Arab domination of Sicily in t h e M i d d l e A g e s . B u t , because of low birth rates and a declining economy, p o p u l a t i o n s t a r t e d t o decrease around 2012, rea- son for which, in 2019, Sam- buca was one of the first vil- l a g e s i n I t a l y t o e m b r a c e the Case a 1 Euro Scheme. The first round of homes went like, quite literally, hotcakes, and also the sec- ond batch, offered for the symbolic price of 2 euro in 2021, sold out quickly. In f a c t , t h e r e w e r e s o m a n y requests that, in the end, each home was eventually auctioned, with final prices going anywhere from 500 to 7,000 euro (roughly, from 520 to 7,300 USD). According to Giuseppe Cacioppo, Sambuca's deputy mayor interviewed by CNN, most buyers in 2021 were Americans: "Almost 80% of people who wrote, applied and took part in this second auction either come from t h e S t a t e s o r a r e A m e r i - cans," he said to Marchetti. S o m e p e o p l e a p p l i e d " a scatola chiusa," that is, they weren't even interested in seeing the property before buying it. Which was quite fortunate, considering that the 2021 sales went on dur- ing the pandemic. The question, of course, comes naturally: why were so many Americans interest- ed in getting old properties in severe need of some TLC, in a small, countryside vil- l a g e i n S i c i l y ? W e l l , o f course, many were attracted by the opportunity of getting a home for near nothing, then investing some money i n i t a n d e n d u p w i t h a delightful Italian holiday retreat. But what Marchetti discovered when she inter- viewed some of Sambuca's 1 euro home buyers, is that there was, among many of t h e m , a l s o a n i n t e r e s t i n helping the community and s u p p o r t i n g t h e v i l l a g e ' s r e n a i s s a n c e . O n e o f h e r i n t e r v i e w e e s b o u g h t t w o adjacent homes for a total of 1 0 0 0 e u r o ( a r o u n d 1 1 0 0 U S D ) : h e n o w p l a n s t o crowdfund his way through renovations and then give them away. His wish is that of helping the community return to what it used to be, offering renewed homes to potential investors. D a n i e l P a t i n o , a c h e f f r o m A r i z o n a a n d c o - founder of a US fresh food company, managed to win at auction the only three-story building available for less than 3,000 USD. Patino's story is quite typical of the whole Case a 1 Euro extrav- aganza: he told to Marchetti that, for him, it's all a bit of a g a m b l e a n d t h a t h e "placed a bid sight unseen after looking at all proper- ties online, but this one in particular just spoke to me. It had this outside little rus- tic patio …". Nevermind he couldn't see the inside of the h o u s e b e c a u s e i t w a s t o o dangerous to go in: there'll be time for renovations to take place. And while he still doesn't know exactly what he'll do with his new Italian home once it's ready, one c a n i m a g i n e t h a t , P a t i n o being a chef, there'll be a lot of great dinner parties going on there. In truth, he says he may even decide to use it as an Italian branch of his food chain, therefore giving even more support to the local community. Another bidder, French- Canadian Brigitte Dufour, p l a c e d b l i n d b i d s o n t w o homes, winning both for a t o t a l e x p e n d i t u r e o f j u s t over 7,000 USD. Her aim is that of helping locals and c o n v e r t t h e t w o a b o d e s , located in the charming his- torical Saracen district of Sambuca, into artists' resi- dences, where artists "can s t a y f o r t w o w e e k s o r a w h o l e m o n t h a n d b e inspired by the beauty of Sicily and Sambuca to create a r t w o r k s t h a t t a l k a b o u t g e n d e r i s s u e s , d i g n i t y , human rights. They can ben- efit from using a nice, safe place," Dufour explained to CNN. Americans – and Canadi- ans! – fell in love with Sam- buca and their investments in its old homes seem to go well beyond a mere desire to get a cheap – albeit in need of much renovation – holi- day home for themselves, family, and friends. Many buyers were moved primari- ly by the will of helping the l o c a l c o m m u n i t y t h r i v e a g a i n , o f f e r i n g r e f r e s h e d p r o p e r t i e s t o p o t e n t i a l investors, a safe creative haven to artists, or even a potential location for busi- ness. Always creative and f e a r l e s s , t h e A m e r i c a n s came to save Sambuca. You can read the original article by Silvia Marchetti with all the complete inter- views on the CNN Travel website, at www.edition. cnn.com/travel/. Sambuca di Sicilia's Little America FRANCESCA BEZZONE A picturesque alley in Sambuca (Photo: Simone Padovani/Shutterstock) LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE TRADITIONS

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