Declining Italian Villages Will Pay You $33,000 To Move There And Start A Business

Right now, multiple picturesque Italian cities will pay you to move there in hopes of reversing years of population decline. 

However, there are certain caveats to getting paid. You must be under 40 years of age, take up residency, and be ready to relocate within 90 days. They are also requiring you to be willing to start up a small business. You can choose from professions wanted by the towns, or you can start one on your own. The choice is yours. 

All of the villages are located in Calabria and offer up to €28,000, which translates to $33,000, to be paid out over three years. So far, €700,000 has been set aside for the project.

Applications for the “active residency income” project are set to launch online in the coming weeks.

The villages include Civita, Samo, Precacore, Aieta, Bova, Caccuri, Albidona, Sant’Agata del Bianco, Santa Severina, and San Donato di Ninea. Over 75 percent of towns in the region have less than 5,000. There’s fear that some cities could die out entirely if the population does not start climbing. 

“The goal is to boost the local economy and breathe new life into small-scale communities,” Gianluca Gallo, a regional councilor, told CNN.