Italian towns turn seized mafia assets into community facilities

The municipality of Gioia Tauro in Calabria received five apartments and nine parking boxes that were confiscated from organised crime. The transfer, ordered by the National Agency for the Management of Seized Assets, places the properties in the city’s unavailable heritage and earmarks them for social use, according to Mayor Simona Scarcella, who called the move a concrete victory for the community.

In Liguria, the town of Sarzana approved a decree to repurpose two confiscated assets – a villa on Via Fratta and a plot on Via Triboli – for public benefit. The villa will be converted into a hostel for pilgrims travelling the Via Francigena, while the plot will host “Orti Sociali,” a community garden intended to promote inclusion, education and local participation. Both initiatives follow national rules governing the reuse of assets seized from the mafia, aiming to turn former symbols of illegality into tools for social development.