Italian town grants you 30,000 euros if you settle in it

Presicce Acquarica, in the heel of the Italian boot, won’t stop fighting depopulation – no matter the price

“Welcome to Presicce Acquarica” – this is the name of a soon-to-be-launched campaign by the small town located near the southernmost point of the Italian boot heel. But this is much more than a friendly greeting since behind these words, there is the promise of a 30,000-euro grant for anyone who decides to purchase a house there and make it their official address.

Presicce Acquarica, located near Cape Leuca and deep in the traditional region of Salento, has about 10,500 residents. Like many other countryside localities, it has been impacted by the scourge of depopulation. Unlike other towns, however, its authorities are not taking it passively and are firmly committed to doing whatever it takes to reverse the negative trend, including chipping in for newcomers’ property purchases.

Details of the financial support

According to Italy’s most prominent property market website, Idealista, the municipal announcement has not been officially published yet, as some details still need to be ironed out. In the meantime, however, the terms of the initiative have been disclosed, designed for families or individual citizens who intend to move their residence to this Salento village.

Basically, the non-repayable grant made available by the Municipality of Presicce Acquarica will be able to cover 50% of the expenditure incurred for the purchase of the house (and in the case of renovations), up to a maximum of 30 thousand euros. 30% of the local housing stock has been marked as eligible for such contribution.

Individual citizens and families who undertake to buy a house in the municipality can apply for the financial aid. The maximum contribution payable by the municipality is 30 thousand euros, out of a total budget of 150 thousand euros. Reportedly, that budget will be allocated over several upcoming years.

When this becomes official it will beat Sardinia’s similar grant scheme, which provides up to 15,000 euros per household if they move to a small town in the island’s interior.

Presicce Acquarica’s other anti-depopulation initiatives

Presicce and Acquarica del Capo were actually two separate municipalities until 2019 when they were merged as an administrative act to centralize and counteract shrinking. Still, the authorities have resorted to much more than legal shortcuts to try and stop the erosion of the local population, which also threatens the economic well-being of the town.

According to mayor Paolo Rizzo, last year 60 new babies were born, yet 150 residents also died, showing the unsustainable disbalance in the age pyramid. For that reason at the start of the year, the municipality started paying out a 1000 euro bonus for newborns.

Using funds from the merger of the two municipalities, the administration also launched another initiative called “Resto a Presicce-Acquarica” (“I stay in Presicce-Acquarica”). That one is aimed at helping young people find a meaningful life in their hometown rather than seek the way out.

"If there is no longer a generational change, we will become a country of old people as it has already happened in other Italian locations,” stated Mayor Rizzo, as quoted by La Repubblica.