Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1950
The
Cassa per il Mezzogiorno
is established to help fund public works and infrastructure in the south. Poor
management and corruption sees at least one third of the money squandered.
1950s-60s
Soaring unemployment causes another mass migration of about two million people from the south to
the factories of northern Italy, Europe and Australia.
1980
At 7.34pm on 25 November, a 6.8 Richter scale earthquake strikes Campania. The quake kills almost
3000 people and causes widespread damage; the city of Naples also suffers damage.
1999
Brindisi becomes a strategic base for the Office of the UN and the World Food Organisation. The dis-
used military airport's hangars are converted into storage space for humanitarian aid.
2003
Sicilian
mafioso
Salvatore 'Totò' Riina is arrested in Palermo. Nicknamed 'The Beast', the 'boss of
bosses' had ordered the bombing death of antimafia magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsell-
ino.
2003
The Campania government launches Progetto Vesuvia in an attempt to clear Mt Vesuvius' heavily
populated lower slopes. The €30,000 offered to relocate is rejected by most in the danger zone.
2004-05
Tension between rival Camorra clans explodes on the streets of suburban Naples. In only four
months, almost 50 people are gunned down in retribution attacks.
2005
Nichi Vendola, representing the Communist Refoundation Party, is elected president of Puglia. He is
the first gay communist to be elected president of a southern Italian region.
2010
Local youths in Rosarno, Calabria, shoot air rifles at African migrants returning from work in Janu-
ary. About 2000 migrants subsequently clash with locals in two days of violent rioting.
2011
Thousands of boat people fleeing the revolutionary chaos in northern Africa land on the island of
Lampedusa. Italy grants 30,000 refugees temporary visas, creating tension with France.
