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The assets of Campione d’Italia for auction
03 November, Il Giorno
While waiting that the Government decide what to do, Campione d’Italia is about to be put for auction, as decided by the interim commissioner Giorgio Zanzi. The solution, however, was already identified by the then-Mayor Roberto Salmoiraghi when in June, unable to close the budget, was forced to declare the crisis status. The situation hasn’t improved since then, quite the contrary. As a result, it was decided to sell the city assets. They consist of a little treasure worth almost 40 million euro, although it’s unlikely the City will ever obtain such an amount from the sale. The most beautiful assets are the harbour and waterfront areas valued about 14 million francs (over 12 million euro), Villa Mimosa just across the casino. It will be put for sale at a starting price of approximately 7 million francs (over 6 million euro).
One year ago, Campione was still doing well, thanks to the casino which was still open, although the business wasn’t exactly thriving. There was even the plan to open a dependence of the casino dedicated to Chinese gamblers only. There were about 60 apartments property of the City worth about 20 million francs (over 17 million euro). The City had tried in the past to sell the apartments to the tenants, mostly seniors and low-income families. The two villas which were donated by the former Mayor Carlo Franchini will be also put for auction for a total value of over 2 million euro. One of the villas is located in Campione, while the other is in Bordighera, on the coast of Liguria. Even the Pro Campione offices have been seized. The offices were a point of reference for the tourist visiting Campione.
“Although we were available to work reduced hours, the commissioner thought it wasn’t necessary keeping at least one info point in Campione”, bitterly commented the two former employees. Therefore, the institution that Campione obtained from the region of Lombardy has closed. The agreement with Lombardy was expressly designed to have a tourist board not connected to the province. “We officially requested the suspension of our employment without losing the job, but with no success. One will have to go to Como to have tourist information about Campione. It’s a pity, not much for the job we lost, rather for the opportunity to relaunch the territory which has plenty to offer in terms of history and culture”.
Source: Il Giorno
Translator: Cristina Ambrosi