Silvia Marchetti

5 days ago | inews.co.uk | Silvia Marchetti

A British man who moved abroad for a better life in Barcelona has said that too many visitors and inconsiderate tourists are ruining his adopted city. Campbell Peter Bluett, 32, moved to Barcelona in 2020 to work in the bar industry after falling in love with the Spanish mindset which he says aims to “enjoy life and stress less and keep things in balance”. For Mr Bluett, the UK was too grey, close-minded and had “tunnel vision”.

1 week ago | inews.co.uk | Silvia Marchetti

A British widow who bought her dream farmhouse in Italy had her rennovation plans scuppered over fears there could be Roman treasures hiding in her basement. Danielle Wight, 75, from Leeds, bought the four bedroom, four bathroom farmhouse in rural Molise, central Italy, for €500,000 in 2019 after her husband died. The property, which is spread over three floors and came with a four hectare piece of land with olive and fruit trees, sits in the countryside near the city of Campobasso.

2 weeks ago | inews.co.uk | Silvia Marchetti

Jose Augusto Manetta Ramos is practically collecting homes in Italy for just €1 (85p). The tech salesman and entrepreneur lives in Milton Keynes but has always dreamed of having a holiday home in Italy. He now owns five, all in Sicily. The most expensive home cost him €500 (£427), three were bought for the princely sum of €1 each, and one was actually given to him for free by a neighbour. “I’ve always wanted to have a place to escape to,” Mr Ramos told The i Paper.

2 weeks ago | theneweuropean.co.uk | Silvia Marchetti

There’s a very secret workshop in the Vatican where a handful of skilled carpenters are tasked with making a very special item – the pope’s coffin. They usually don’t like to talk about their work, and are especially quiet when the Bishop of Rome dies. Even within the Vatican, very few people know who these woodworkers really are. But the people who will make Pope Francis’s casket are the craftsmen of the Falegnameria Industriale, the Vatican’s in-house carpentry service.

3 weeks ago | theneweuropean.co.uk | Silvia Marchetti

Around here, if you try to build a pool or a fountain, or even set up a gazebo in your garden without the green light from the local authorities, they’ll make you tear it down. And just because you happen to be ignorant of local building regulations is no excuse. Norah is a digital nomad from London with a cottage in Rome’s countryside. She recently had to dismantle a gazebo she had set up in the garden due to lack of permits. She was devastated.