Italy currently offers some of the best inducements to relocate to the less populated areas, with one euro houses and attractive tax regimes but the latest offering surpasses anything that has gone before. Widely reported across the press, the small region of Molise situated between Abruzzo and Puglia announced that it is about to make an offer, to people who are thinking of relocating to Italy, that may be hard to refuse. If you are prepared to relocate to one of the 106 declining villages with a population under 2,000 in the region you will receive an income amounting to €8,000 per annum for up to three years, on the condition that you are prepared to start a small business for at least five years that will contribute to the local economy and help to enhance and revive the area.

Antonio Tedeschi, a regional councillor who thought up the idea, is keen to kick-start a renaissance in the region to revive Molise and prevent the charming villages in the area turning into ghost towns. Antonio was born in a village in Molise that now has barely 700 residents. He believes his new scheme will breathe life into the fading region and points out that the new residents will be free to choose any type of enterprise they wish to, provided it offers an economic advantage that will help to revive the region and interacts with the existing population.

Giambrone is well placed to offer assistance with this project from our offices throughout Italy with teams of real estate lawyers to assist with property purchase and commercial lawyers to facilitate setting up a business and drafting the raft of contracts required. There may be potential for more than one enterprise to work symbiotically, for example, a spa or skiing facility and taxi service to be separately founded with the view of working together.

There is a wide choice of locations with differing advantages and disadvantages, many of which already have existing attractions that can be built on such as Riccia, a village which hosts an annual grape festival at the end of the vendemmia or harvest; there is a parade with colourful floats in a procession along the streets where visitors receive fabulous gourmet treats linked to the village. The event routinely attracts wine lovers from across Italy. Also, the village of Fornelli, which is known as the City of Oil due to the extensive olive groves, which is also is host to the elusive premium truffles as well as other species of highly prized elite legumes. The village has a unique picturesque beauty and has been nominated in Italy's Most Beautiful Town contest 2019 and as with many Italian villages it retains some of its medieval architecture.

There are many other villages that have potential with extremely popular attractions that could be commercially exploited to a greater degree than is happening at present, for example, the villages of Capracotta and Campitello Matese are Molise's top winter sports resorts in the area, pulling in snowboarders and cross-country amateurs. Whilst the skiing pistes aren't as long nor as steep as those found in the Alps they could be promoted to families and skiers who enjoy the sport but are not looking for the extreme challenges found in the Alps. The project launches on 16 September and will no doubt be an extremely popular project.

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