The services listed on the billboard outside Rotondaro Costruzioni, an estate agency and builder, are written in Italian and Russian, as are the details of the properties advertised for sale in the window display., The Guardian writes.
Inside, about a dozen thick red folders, filled with plastic envelopes containing details of customers dating back to 2010, spill out of a cabinet. The majority of those property buyers were Russian. “We are already at zero,” said Rotondaro. “The Russians don’t come any more; they’ve been cut off.”
Rotondaro is not the only one feeling the pinch. Scalea, a town of just under 11,000 residents, has about 30 property agencies, many catering to the Russian market. Restaurants, bars and shops had come to depend on their Russian guests, who tend to spend more than their Italian counterparts while elongating the holiday season by visiting outside the hot summer months. La Playa, a spacious bar and restaurant, has menus in Russian and Russian-speaking staff, but when the Guardian visited at lunchtime on a recent national holiday, there were few diners. “In normal situations, there are lots of Russians here. Now there is not even one,” said Salvatore, a waiter.
It remains to be seen if Russians will return to buy the additional property stock, but Perrotta is confident that Scalea is in for a busy summer. “We will wait for the Russians to come back … but after two years of the pandemic, we anticipate a boom in tourist presence – we don’t only live off Russians; we have plenty of Italian visitors too.”
