The Sicilian city of Cammarata attracted worldwide attention with its bold offer for new residents in 2019 with Italy housing schemes of € 1. CNN writes that Cammarata promised to give up the standard symbolic fee for those who want to start a new life there.
There were many people who applied but the project due to lack of staff was blocked and then the Covid-19 pandemic started. Not a single house was given.
“Thanks to all the publicity, we had a lot of requests“- says Giuseppe Mangiapane, the mayor of Cammarata, who took office in the midst of the pandemic in October 2020.
“Cammarata is a stunning city like the panoramic terrace of inner Sicily because you can admire all the wonders of the island and even the eruptions of Etna, many miles away, from here. Everyone who comes in immediately falls in love. However, unfortunately, the pandemic that started the same year when the project started, blocked everything. “
As the pandemic progressed, the new generation of Cammarata began to return home. Young people who had moved to seek their fortune were returning.
Ornella Ancona, 28, is one of them. She would leave Sicily almost a decade ago, to study and travel abroad and had settled in the UK for the past five years. But in January 2021, she returned.
“The pandemic radically changed the outlook we had on life it made me want to go back to Sicily for a while.“Cammarata represents my home, my roots, but also a place that has not changed over time, with traditions that have never changed,” she said.
