Published: September 13, 2018
Fighting depopulation caused by tourism and high rents, activists are helping Venetians take over abandoned properties
Simonetta Boni, 52, was born and raised in Venice. In May 2016 she and her family lost their home because the landlord suddenly raised the rent from €800 per month to €1,500. “I went to social services but they didn’t help me – they said there were many cases like ours,” she says. “That’s why I decided to occupy an empty house.”
Many Venetians have been forced out of their homes because of the high cost of living, which has been linked to mass tourism. Ten years ago there were 60,000 residents in the historic centre; now it’s 53,000.
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