Title: Casino Shutdown's Grave Consequences in Campione
After the closing of the Casinó di Campione in September last year, the Italin exclave of Campione d'Italia on the shores of Lake Lugano (located in southern Switzerland) has been struggling to survive. Banners with the message "SOS - Campione is DEAD" are displayed in the promenade. The casino, which first opened in 1917, was a major economic force in the region for several decades.
Here's a summary of the dire situation:
No more money for food
The local elections for Campione d'Italia were scheduled to take place alongside the European elections on Sunday, 26th May but there were no candidates, leading to the cancelation of the vote. This is just one of the many adverse effects that the village of approximately 2,000 residents has experienced since the closure of Casinó di Campione. The 85 municipal employees have not been paid for more than a year.
The doors of the €50 million, ten-story complex were closed in September 2018 due to permanent insolvency. Nearly 500 employees were laid off overnight, and the casino, which was once the pinnacle of luxury and entertainment, is now officially and permanently sealed. This was carried out by the tax officials from the Italian town of Como.
Just a year before the closure, Locals were celebrating the 100th anniversary of the casino. The then-largest casino in Europe (55,000 square meters) moved to the new state-of-the-art casino building designed by renowned architect Mario Botta.
Campione has 800 unemployed individuals. The casino's debt has reached a staggering €155.6 million. The exclave's budget is now in a deep deficit amounting to €124 million. As per a recent report by Zeit Online, some villagers can't even afford food. The retirement home, kindergarten, and tourist office have allegedly been shut down. Additionally, only the most essential rooms in the school are heated.
Mass demonstrations for months
Putting up banners with the slogan "SOS - Campione is DEAD" is just one of the many ongoing protest actions the residents have held for several months. Almost every day, former employees gather in front of the massive building complex demanding its reopening. Ex-employees are vehemently against the notion that the region has relied too heavily on one employer, instead, they place the blame on the casino's management.
Rosy Bianchi, a former employee who worked at the casino for over 13 years as a croupier and chaired the works council, said unequivocally:
"The management was a collection of incompetents. The casino must be reopened, preferably today rather than tomorrow. It is unimaginable for us, our families, and the entire village."
Bianchi has received support from Leonardo Pace, another former employee who worked at the casino for more than 20 years and lives in the Swiss canton of Ticino. This man fears that he might not be able to pay his mortgage due to the closure; he begrudges the situation as "hopeless". Pace has demonstrated in front of the Como bankruptcy office, as well as at the regional office in Milan, but to no avail. He can barely express his anger and despair.
"We're essentially being abandoned by everyone. They're friendly and nice, but no one seems to be truly invested in helping us."
No faith in a promising future
According to Fiorenzo Dorigo, who also worked at Casino Campione for more than 21 years, the closure is not just a loss of jobs for seasoned employees but also eliminates prospects for young people; previously, it was the norm to find work at the casino for local residents. The village, which relied on the casino for a secure future, is still reeling from the shock.
It appears that Campione will take considerable time to overcome the drastic cuts of the recent months, but belief in a favorable outcome, especially a reopening of the casino, is gradually waning. As one former employee (over 60 years old) told Zeit Online, "We are lost in despair". "We're a long way from reopening today," he laments, adding that the debt keeps growing by the day. The Casino Campione fiasco has been described as a "monster" that has taken over the region. The situation continues to develop.
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Source: www.onlinecasinosdeutschland.com
