Responsible tourism in Sicily

Sicily has problems with unemployment, corruption in local government and, in many towns and neighbourhoods, the Mafia still exercises a harmful influence. A corrupt investment climate keeps business away, which is why Sicily remains relatively poor compared to other Italian regions. Residents often can’t access employment unless they know influential people and young folk continue to leave the island to find work in the more prosperous north.

The Cosa Nostra, which translates as “our thing”, is very much a Sicilian thing, too. This criminal syndicate is in fact a loose collection of groups involved primarily in protection rackets and dodgy dealing. Each group is known as a family and has its own territory, usually a village or neighbourhood. The Mafia is still very much in operation in Sicily, but you’re unlikely to know if you come across one of its members. There’s no uniform and, in fact, the coppola caps that Mafiosi used to wear have been appropriated by hipsters and members of the anti Mafia movement.

The Mafia hit the news when periodic killings take place, but tourists are rarely touched by this kind of violence, which tends to take place in the poor corners of the island. It’s the protection racketeering that goes on across Sicily and further afield that is relevant to anyone travelling here. Typically, hotels, restaurants and shops are forced to pay, and by using these local facilities you can, inadvertently, be lining their pockets. Mafia extortion money is known as pizzo and many Sicilian businesses pay it.

What you can do
In Sicily, the grassroots movement Addiopizzo was established in 2004 by local businesses, consumers and private individuals who refuse to pay the pizzo extortion money. It challenges the Mafia stronghold on local business by discouraging shop owners from paying pizzo, educating people and challenging cultural norms. Addiopizzo Travel is an offshoot of the project which tries to raise awareness amongst holidaymakers and helps them find pizzo free hotels, restaurants and shops. It also produces a pizzo free city map of Palermo that you can download from its website. Some tour operators partner with establishments that are part of the Addiopizzo movement – it’s worth asking what their line is on extortion and tourism.

Sicily is mostly given over to agriculture, with almonds, citrus fruit, olives, grapes and the durum wheat used to make pasta carpeting it, but for all this greenery, it’s a relatively arid island. Its lack of water is one of the reasons behind its poverty. Both farmers and urban water users have long relied on scarce, non-replenishable groundwater, with average rainfall of only about 600mm per year. In summer, the Sahara Desert’s hot winds drive off rain clouds and droughts are frequent. It means water is a precious resource, and as such attracts the Mafia. Back in the 1980s, when Mafia was at its height, federal authorities often found illegal siphons in pipelines carrying water to cities. [1]

This water scarcity is further exacerbated by the presence of cruise ships in Palermo. In summer 2017, hundreds of homes in the capital were left without drinking water. This was partly due to emergency maintenance work but also because some 174,000 tons of water was diverted from two residential areas and loaded onto tourist cruise ships in the port. [2]