So romantic! Italy sells its lighthouses and further develops tourism

Can you imagine spending some time in a lighthouse, in front of the beautiful blue Italian sea?

According to the Financial Times, pressure on public finances has recently generated opportunities to further develop Italian historic buildings for tourism. The result? The country sells off its amazing lighthouses to helpless romantic looking for a unique investment property characterized by a secluded location and an uninterrupted view on the sea.

The Italian state will reach its goal by accepting bids on its remarkable portfolio of historic lighthouses, all the while reducing the public debt. Private investors will have the chance to convert the breathtaking coastal properties into luxury resorts or boutique hotels, restaurants or cultural centers.

Bids will be accepted until December 19 for twenty working lighthouses and coastal towers, all locate in secluded positions on little-inhabited islands or rocky promontories. And, let’s be honest: this is part of their appeal.

Among the properties ready to be sold there are the 19th century Spignon lighthouse at the mouth of the port of Malamocco in the Venice lagoon, a 15m lighthouse standing on a tiny islet; the Guardia lighthouse on the beautiful island of Ponza, standing on a cliff 100m above the Tyrrhenian Sea, part of the Mediterranean; nine properties in Sicily and its nearby islands, among which there is Capo Faro lighthouse on Salina, the setting for the 1994 Michael Radford film Il Postino.

The lighthouses will remain fully functioning even under the dispositions of the new owners: that means that their nightly ritual of rotating beams will continue.

Many people, both Italian and foreign, have already applied for this spectacular occasion. Anyway, buyers must have experience in the tourism sector and be ready to visit the site in person, in order to completely understand the majesty of the properties they are going to buy. We don’t think that will ever be a problem.