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24th June 2020
10:29am BST

In Cinquefrondi, Mayor Michele Conia told CNN the plan is to reverse a depopulation trend caused by younger folk heading off in search of work and fill the community up again! He's even gone and named the plan "Operation Beauty."
"Finding new owners for the many abandoned houses we have is a key part of the Operation Beauty that I have launched to recover degraded, lost parts of town."
They bought a $1 house in Italy, then Covid-19 struck
"I grew up in Germany where my parents had migrated, then I came back to save my land. Too many people have fled from here over the decades, leaving behind empty houses. We can't succumb to resignation."
The town doesn't sound half bad either, the mayor explains "we rise between the refreshing hills and two warm seas, a pristine river runs nearby and the beaches are just 15 minutes away by car."
This is how the housing deal works: Cinquefrondi requests an annual €250 policy insurance fee until renovations on the properties are completed and new owners will be liable to pay a fine of €20,000 if the remodelling isn't done in three years.