Elbahrain.net While many communities around the world have been wondering what to make of Donald Trump’s presidential re-election, a village on the Italian island of Sardinia has sniffed a potential opportunity.
Like many other places in rural Italy, Ollolai has long been trying to persuade outsiders to move in to revive its fortunes after decades of depopulation. It’s been selling dilapidated houses for as little as one euro — just over a dollar — to sweeten the deal.
Now, following the November 5 vote outcome, it’s launched a website aimed at would-be American expats, offering up more cheap homes in the hope that those upset by the result will rush to snap up one of its empty properties.
“Are you worned (sic) out by global politics? Looking to embrace a more balanced lifestyle while securing new opportunities?” the website asks. “It’s time to start building your European escape in the stunning paradise of Sardinia.”
Mayor Francesco Columbu tells CNN that the website was specifically created to attract American voters in the wake of the presidential elections. He says he loves the United States and is convinced Americans are the best people to help revive his community.
“We just really want, and will focus on, Americans above all,” he says. “We can’t of course ban people from other countries to apply, but Americans will have a fast-track procedure. We are betting on them to help us revive the village, they are our winning card.”
Columbu says the village is now offering three tiers of accommodation: Free temporary homes to certain digital nomads, one-euro homes in need of renovations, and ready-to-occupy houses for prices up to 100,000 euros ($105,000).
The mayor says he’s set up a special team to guide interested buyers through every step of the purchase, from organizing tailored private tours of the available dwellings to finding contractors, builders and navigating required paperwork.
He says photos and plans of available empty properties will be soon be uploaded to the website.
In the past century, Ollolai’s population has shrunk from 2,250 to 1,300 with only a handful of babies born each year. Many families left the village during tough economic times, in search of work and better lives.
Over the last few years, the poulation has further dropped to barely 1,150 residents.
While the village may be desperate to lure newcomers in an attempt to stop depopulation, the offer of “preferential treatment” to Americans, as Columbu describes it, may seem a bit controversial.
The website does not mentioned having a US passport as a prerequisite, but the mayor says US citizens will be favored above potential applicants of other nationalities.
“Of course, we can’t specifically mention the name of one US president who just got elected, but we all know that he’s the one from whom many Americans want to get away from now and leave the country,” Columbo adds.
“We have specifically created this website now to meet US post-elections relocation needs. The first edition of our digital nomad scheme which launched last year was already solely for Americans.”
The mayor says the town hall’s website has been flooded recently with 38,000 requests of information on houses, mostly coming from the United States.
“So we were really looking to create a platform that caters to US citizens, and to group together our various projects,” says Columbu.
