Program to attract new residents receives more than 1000 calls in 24 hours
The offer is tempting: 700 euros (around R$3,1) per month, for three years, to anyone willing to live in the Molise region, located in the south of Italy.
With the intention of attracting new residents, the local government is offering a financial incentive to interested parties.
The response was immediate. Within 24 hours, the phone in the office of Antonio Tedeschi, Molise's regional councilor, rang more than 1.000 times. “There was an avalanche of calls with requests for information coming from Brazil, from Brazilians living in Italy, and from the United States,” he said.
But, to do so, the government requires a counterpart from the new residents: committing to investing, opening a business in the region, and living in a place with less than 2 thousand inhabitants.
You still need to have European citizenship. “I don’t want to throw cold water on Brazilians, especially, but to dream of a peaceful life here you need to have passport European or a community residence visa”, explains Tedeschi.
On September 16th, the government will publish the notice on the internet with all the information for those interested in putting down roots, for at least 5 years, in one of the 106 cities with less than 2 thousand inhabitants in the Molise region.
The candidate will have 60 days to register accompanied by a business investment project in the region — a mandatory requirement to access the €700 monthly benefit for three years. “The proposals will be evaluated by a commission. And there will also be constant monitoring to check whether the open activities are operating regularly”, warns the regional counselor.
Known for its mountains and hills, the Molise region, the second smallest in the country, is one of the most affected. In the last 20 years, the number of the population fell from 320 thousand to 305 thousand, according to demographic census data from the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (Istat), the government's statistical body.
“There is nothing sadder than seeing your own territory lose its people. That's why, when I took office, a year and a half ago, I decided to propose a plan to increase the number of inhabitants in cities, attracting investors and creating jobs”, comments Antonio Tedeschi, elected to the regional council by a center-right coalition. “I was born in Filignano, which today has 700 inhabitants and in 1990 had more than 3.000 residents.”
The drop in population numbers is not new in southern Italy. The migratory flow towards northern cities such as Milan, Turin and Roma It is intense especially among young people, who are looking for better work and life opportunities.
The strategy of paying citizens to settle in a location is not new, and it is also not the only one. Many of these small towns are adopting similar practices, such as accepting Libyan refugees and even selling abandoned houses for the symbolic value of one euro.
The explanation is simple: the southern region is one of the poorest in Italy and suffers from a precarious health service and is infested with mafiosi.
The employment rate is among the lowest in the European Union, with a third of its population at risk of falling into poverty.
The number of young people leaving southern Italy is at a record high, and the birth rate is the lowest in the last 150 years, which is turning the region's centers into ghost towns.
The data is in the report by the Southern Italian Industrial Development Association (SVIMEZ).
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