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Italian village offers $1 homes to Americans upset by US election results

<p>An Italian village in Sardinia, Italy is offering one-euro homes to Americans seeking a new start following the results of the 2024 U.S election that saw Donald Trump being re-elected as president. </p> <p>Ollolai has long been trying to persuade outsiders to move in to revive the community after decades of depopulation. </p> <p>Now, it's selling dilapidated houses for as little as one euro — just over a US dollar or $AU1.60 — to entice Americans to move abroad. </p> <p>Following the November 5 outcome, they have launched a website aimed at potential American expats, offering cheap homes in hopes that those disappointed by the result and seeking a fresh start will snap up one of their empty properties. </p> <p>"Are you worned (sic) out by global politics? Looking to embrace a more balanced lifestyle while securing new opportunities?" the website read. </p> <p>"It's time to start building your European escape in the stunning paradise of Sardinia."</p> <p>Mayor Francesco Columbu told CNN that the website was specifically created to attract American voters in the wake of the presidential elections.</p> <p>The mayor loves the United States and is convinced Americans would be the best people to revive the community. </p> <p>"We just really want, and will focus on, Americans above all," he said. </p> <p>"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."</p> <p>The village is offering three tiers of accommodation: Free temporary homes to certain digital nomads, ($1.6) homes in need of renovations, and ready-to-occupy houses for prices up to $160,000.</p> <p>The mayor also set up a special team to guide interested buyers through every step of the process including finding contractors, builders and navigating required paperwork. </p> <p>"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 added. </p> <p>"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."</p> <p>Photos and plans of available empty properties will soon be uploaded to the website. </p> <p>The website has since received nearly 38,000 requests for information on houses, with most of them coming from the United States</p> <p>In the past century, Ollolai's population has shrunk from 2,250 to 1,300 with only a handful of babies born each year. </p> <p>Over the last few years, this has dropped 1,150 residents. </p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p> <p> </p>

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Tourists face jail time over sand theft

<p><span>“Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time” – this often heard phrase has become a rule of thumb while travelling, but some still could not resist the urge to bring a piece of paradise home from the holidays.</span></p> <p><span>A French couple had to deal with the consequences as they are facing up to six years in prison for taking 40kg of sand from a beach in the Italian island of Sardinia.</span></p> <p><span>14 plastic bottles containing around 40kg of white sand from a beach in Chia, southern Sardinia were seized from the car during routine checks, police said.</span></p> <p><span>The couple, a man and a woman in their 40s, said they wanted to bring the sand home as a “souvenir” and did not realise they were committing a crime.</span></p> <p><span>The Italian island’s white sand is protected as a public good, and tourists who remove it from the island are subject to fines of up to €3,000 and possible imprisonment.</span></p> <p><span>Residents of the Mediterranean island have been protesting the theft of sand, stones and seashells by tourists, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41031029"><em>BBC</em></a> reported.</span></p> <p><span>“The people of Sardinia are very angry with tourists that steal shells and sand, because it's a theft [from] future generations that also puts at risk a delicate environment,” a police officer told <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/sardinia-sand-theft-arrest-scli-intl/index.html"><em>CNN</em></a>.</span></p> <p><span>According to environmental scientist and Sardinian resident Pierluigi Cocco, there are two threats to the island’s sandy beaches. “One is due to erosion, which is partly natural and partly induced by the increasing sea level due to climate change; the second is sand stealing by tourists,” Cocco told the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49394828"><em>BBC</em></a>.</span></p> <p><span>"Only a fraction of the tourists visiting Sardinia spend their time digging up to 40kg of sand each. But if you multiply half that amount times 5 per cent of the one million tourists per year, in a few years that would contribute significantly to the reduction of beaches – the main reason why tourists are attracted by the island of Sardinia.”</span></p> <p><span>In 1994, access to the famous pink beach on Budelli island off Sardinia were restricted over concerns about the degraded environment. In 2016, a woman who took the sand from the beach <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/19/french-tourists-in-hot-water-in-sardinia-over-sand-souvenir">returned it after more than two decades</a>. “I read in some newspapers and heard on the TV what this sand is and how it is made,” she said. “I understood how unique Sardinia is. I felt guilty.”</span></p>

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