The local government of Sardinia will offer up to €15,000 to people moving in the island’s many little towns and villages in an effort to combat rural depopulation.
According to Travel Tomorrow, the grant offered by the Sardinian government doesn’t have to be refunded immediately, but it must go for the purchase or renovation of the Sardinian home.
Other criteria to be fulfilled for those wanting to move to Sardinia include the location of the house, which has to be in a municipality with less than 3,000 inhabitants. Moreover, the absolute maximum of the grant is €15,000, and it shouldn’t exceed half of the purchasing or renovation costs.
“Lastly, you’ll have to register your residence in Sardinia within 18 months of your arrival if you want to be eligible for the grant. A lot of criteria, that’s for sure, but €15,000 certainly is a lovely starting budget!” Travel Tomorrow explains.
This isn’t the first time the Italian government has offered grants in order to either attract more inhabitants or migrant seasonal and domestic workers.
Last month, the Italian government decided to provide one-off allowances of €200 for such workers, with the measure expected to attract more third country citizens.
“The DL 50/2022 law allows migrant workers to apply for the bonus, as long as they were residing in Italy before July 1 2022, and all income requirements are met,” a statement issued by the European Commission reveals.
Based on data from the Italian National Institute of Social Security (INPS), the majority of workers in the domestic sector come from third countries.
INPS’ data shows that there were about 961,358 domestic workers in 2021, up by 1.9 per cent compared to 2020. In addition, foreign workers represented 70 per cent of the total, with the number surging by 3.2 per cent in the last year.
Moreover, Italians are leaving the historic centre of Venice, with the number of inhabitants in this city dropping to 50,000 this week. The main factor for the decrease has been considered mass tourism, as essential businesses are closing and more souvenir shops are opening in the city centre.
Italy is dealing with a decreasing population as the number of inhabitants is expected to decline from 59.6 million people in 2020 to 47.6 million in 2070 – causing a 20 per cent decline to occur. Whereas in 2020, the average age of Italians was 45.7, it is expected to rise to 50.7 by 2050, SchengenVisaInfo reports.
