Sicily, after the closure, the Region focuses on marriages to reactivate the economy: 3.5 million euros for those who marry on the island

“Thom yorke comes to marry Bagheria get three thousand euros from Musumeci? “Demand is rampant on social media today in light of the brit-siculo marriage between the leader of Radiohead and the actress Diana Roncioni. The happy event follows shortly, in fact, the great announcement of the government of Musumeci, which has allocated three thousand euros to couples who decide to marry in Sicily. From now until July 31, it will be enough to say yes in the land of Trinacria to have the incentive. Or immerse yourself in the Baroque and drown your gaze in the Sicilian sea, saving the couple three thousand euros. So much is willing to pay the Sicilian region to shake the undecided and push them to formalize their love. The financial measure just launched by the Musumeci government is not, in fact, the result of a sudden romantic boom. On the other hand, it is a well reasoned and almost lurid expedient to shake up the limp Sicilian economy.

For this reason, the Musumeci government has no doubts and the funds 3.5 million euros for weddings to be held on the island. Religious or civil it does not matter, the important thing is the economic estimate: “We believe that our contribution of 3.5 million euros will allow us to develop a total turnover of about 40, 50 million until the duration of the support measure, that is, up to 31 of July 2021 “, warns the Councilor for Budgets of Sicily, Gaetano Armao. A measure to face the crisis caused by Covid that has destroyed the “marriage” sector, one of the few thriving economic realities on the island: “A sector that Cupertino it will be less relevant than in Sicily – Armao jokes – but here it is an important driver and we must help it ”. HE wedding planner, which founded some of the most flourishing micro-businesses in Trinacria. Catering: from suppliers to waiters. The rental of locations: from the splendid Baroque villas to the hotels, passing through the museums that have been converted, as in the case of Mandralisca of Cefalù, put to exchange the eternal promise. Finally, to close the list, those who are perhaps most kneeling from the stop by COVID-19: musicians, stylists and photographers. Everyone stood still this year, except for a small corner kick recovery in September, but with great personal losses, they swear: “This year we only managed to work for one wedding, we usually go on average 12 a year, all foreigners , which lasts, that is, several days and foresees several events ”, he emphasizes. Simona de salvo who together with the English partner, Emma mell, gave birth to Sicilian wedding day, a Sicilian wedding planning company aimed mainly at the foreign market. To marry them this year, despite the pandemic, in Sicily, only a Dutch couple who postponed their fateful yes from May to September. An ideal place for these times of anti-Covid measures was the splendid Gothic church of Ortigia, San Giovannello, completely devoid of the roof, but not the charm of the monument. But think that most of the weddings we had planned – continues De Salvo – were American couples. In other words, when we faked the confinement, his had just begun: about 50 percent decided to postpone it, the others canceled the event completely, the result is that this year with a turnover equal to zero, my partner and I will pay 7,000 euros in contributions. ”.

However, it is thanks to Covid and, therefore, to the non-payment of mortgages, that the Sicily Region manages to earn money: “I am 13.5 million in minor expenses for the 2020 mortgages obtained from the close negotiation with the State that initially contemplated the measure for ordinary regions and not for those with a special status like ours – explains Armao – a saving that allowed us, among other things, to give an incentive to marriages and all related activities arising from them, but from these, other 5 million will go to the entertainment sector and 5 to Riscossione Sicilia (the Sicilian company for the collection of taxes, ed.) “.

On an island with few major companies, where department stores are either struggling to open (such as Decathlon a Palermo) or threaten to close (as, always in the capital, the Rinascente), Sicilian incentives are for a sector that, although, for obvious reasons, projects into the future, does not seem to shine for innovation. But it is time, in the meantime, to stop losses where income seemed secure: “This help is fine, but we would need more, think also of companies like ours that are completely on their knees but have to pay for it. same contributions, ”adds De Salvo. The incentive is in fact only for the spouses while for all the companies linked to this sector “there are other solutions that can be combined with this: they can request other incentives provided for in other measures,” says the commissioner. Go Italy. What it admits: “Three thousand euros In marriage it is clear that it is not enough, but it is a stimulus not to postpone the union in marriage yet: there have been many, given the health emergency, to take more time, with this saving we hope that you will be convinced not to postpone more because of otherwise they will not. I could enjoy these savings. “

The Sicily Region invites you to marry, in fact, but only before July 31. In short, everything to save 2021, after the last season also left the municipalities on the ground, Taormina In the first place, the undisputed queen of Sicilian marriages. You think that the Hotel San Domenico, closed for years, took a short break from closing, reopening only for a week to celebrate a Japanese wedding: “We are happy to receive the many who decide to celebrate their union in our city from outside,” stressed the mayor. Mario Bolognari, celebrating strictly with a mask on his face, last Saturday, a wedding in the splendid Palazzo dei Duchi di Santo Stefano. On the other hand also Francis Ford Coppola chose a location not far from the pearl of the Ionian Sea for what is probably the best-known Sicilian wedding in the world, albeit “fake”, that is Michael corleone and Apolonia, among the most memorable scenes from the first film of the The Godfather, turn into nearby Savoca. And after Coppola’s worldwide commercial, to give a powerful boost to Sicilia’s notoriety as the scene of the big step, long before Yorke and his wife, was the most famous event of 2018: the yes between Chiara ferragni me Fedez. More than 2 million followers followed the pre-yes party at Palazzo Nicolaci on social media, then the rite at Palazzo Ducezio and the reception immersed in the greenery of the Syracuse countryside. Between baroque and nature, the island is full of dreamlike settings. To which is now also added the incentive of the regional government: but will 3,000 euros of savings per couple be enough to overcome the fear of contagion? The Dutch couple, a bit like the Ferragnezes, after the rite in the splendid roofless church of Ortigia, continued the celebrations in the countryside of the province of Arezzo. Too bad that only 11 guests have had the courage to cross a Europe in full escalation of contagions. Yorke and Roncione will have more, who have sworn eternal love in the monumental context of Villa Valguarnera in Bagheria. Giving the island, without the boost of three thousand euros, a new visibility: “Despite all the difficulties caused by the global pandemic – said Yorke – we are proud and happy to be married here in Sicily.”