It’s a novel way to recover from natural disaster: A village in Sicily is selling houses in its earthquake-battered city center for just 1 euro, provided the buyer spends at least 100,000 euros ($135,000) to restore it with traditional methods and local labor.
The project was launched in 2008 by a celebrity mayor who parachuted into town just in time to carpetbag that year’s elections. Vittorio Sgarbi, an art critic turned politician turned television provocateur, was an odd choice for the mayoralty of Salemi, a conservative village of about 12,000 perched on a hill in western Sicily. But for the past year, as his plan has gathered steam, it’s seemed just possible that he might be able to deliver what its residents need.
globalpost.com
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