Craving something new? Weary of the U.S.? Ready to pack up and go? Then maybe the Italian town of Candela could be your next home. According to CNN, Nicola Gatta, the town’s mayor, will pay you to take up residency in this Southeastern hamlet.
Mayor Gatta is determined to bring life back to the region and is offering those who relocate around $2,350. "This is how it works: 800 euros for singles, 1,200 euros for couples, 1,500 to 1,800 euros for three-member families, and over 2,000 euros for families of four to five people," explains Stefano Bascianelli, the mayor's right-hand man as noted by CNN.
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Candela is situated in the Puglia region of Italy and hasn’t experienced much action since the 1960s. At one point the bustling city brimmed with travelers, locals, and merchants. Now the quaint medieval village is practically a ghost town. In the 1990s the area was home to nearly 8,000 residents, which is an ideal population goal for the determined mayor. Now, the town is home to roughly 2,700 residents.
While the offer seems pretty straight-forward, there is a catch: you should be earning at least €7,500 per year, which converts to roughly just under $9,000. Residents must also take up full residency in Candela and rent (or possibly buy) a house. So if you’re looking to relocate and live off the lay of the land, think twice.
"We don't want people flocking here thinking they get to live off the town hall's revenues, all new residents must work and have an income,” says Bascianelli.
Candela is located roughly an hour from some of the region’s best beaches. Bascianelli also boasted that the town hasn’t had one crime in two decades. Requirements aside, for any wanderluster fluent in Italian who’s not beholden to a speedy wifi connection (assuming a crumbling landscape also equals a shoddy connection), then it still sounds too good to be true.