zloty777

Hello everyone,
I am thinking of moving to Puglia, south of Bari area. My wife and I found some nice properties around there we might be interested in. However after asking some other friends, some living in Italy and some are of Italian origin, we have concerns about safety there. We got absolutely opposite informations from defferent people. On the other hand they say there is no problems at all and on the other side ' Do not go there, there is mafia, gangs and they kidnap you child and will blackmail you!'. We would like to buy a property with intention of making some income of tourism like B&B, agritourism or something similar.
We also have a teenager daughter and her safety is the most important for us. What do you think of it, what is your experience about it?
I appreciate your responses in advance.
Many thanks
Darek
P.S.
I searched the forum for similar issues but did not find anything answering my questions. If there are any posts about it please do not hesitate to direct me there.

philat98

If you start operating a business that competes with existing activities there is always a chance of getting in trouble. The same thing might happen anywhere in Italy.

Moses2013

Not in Italy myself, but like any country you will always hear good and bad. Those who aren't affected personally will tell you it's all good and those who have experienced issues will have a different view.
It's no different in London and unless you have the exact street and location, you won't be any wiser. I suppose the issues with mafia in parts of Italy are known and although there have been arrest made in recent years, these problems remain. Italy and other countries are heading for recession, this of course can always trigger more crime and unless you or your wife are Italian/have an EU passport, things like Visa would be another challenge. I agree with philat98 and operating a business can always create more problems. Even in Spain you hear stories of local business owners who can make life very difficult if you are seen as a threat to their successful business.

pugliese

Never had any problems in the 30 years we have been here with the Mafia. Neither for the companies we worked for or since we started our own business in 2016.

zloty777

What industry is your business in please?

pugliese

second-hand cars and official motorbikes dealership for tge Piaggio Group (Vespa, Piaggio, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi), Suzuki, KTM and HUSQVARNA and MV August .

Lorna at Vicenza

How old is the teenager? I'd be less worried about her getting kidnapped than I would be about how she'd get on in Italian school.

zloty777

My daughter is 12 and she is doing her UK’s school lessons online so far.
Safety is the biggest concer to us and according to the posts above, I should not worry.
many thanks to all of you for sharing your thoughts.

Moses2013

I agree and moving anywhere with a 12 year old can be the bigger challenge. Apart from that, where is it really safe? Most accidents happen at home and on the road.

SanNico

I spent 12 years there and never had a problem. Yes, there is organised crime but they're a bit more old school in the respect that the bad practices are reserved for use against their rivals.

When I arrived there it was a bit of a lawless society where nobody cared about taxes, speeding, drink driving etc. but in the past 5-7 years that changed dramatically. A lot of people run similar business to those you mention without issues. I used to hear about a lot of break-ins but generally they all used the same British property managers.... read in to that as you wish.

It was the safest place I've ever lived with my kids. Between them they spent from birth to 16 years old there and I was never worried about their safety. Drugs are available but not on a UK scale. My biggest concern, had we decided to stay there, would have been teenagers in cars. Teenagers being killed in road accidents are unfortunately common. I don't know why it's so bad but I would suggest it's due to the lack of public transport, taxis, need for speed and negative image of people who wear a seatbelt. Most of the clubs are out of town so I would suggest when that time comes you become your daughters personal chauffeur.

tpw21

There are gangs and organised crime in all countries - like in London, organised gangs aren't going to be interested in you.

Jake.White

Organised crime..? I doubt it unless you are interfering with their business model, and that means big business like banking, people trafficking, drug trafficking, illegal armaments, the running of the Autostrada network and the like. I would suggest in that scenario they would more likely arrange for you to have an "accident" of the fatal variety rather than kidnap your daughter for ransom. What complete and utter tosh. Who told you this..?

I would be more concerned with petty crime like house burglary and low level estate agent scams and the like if I was you, otherwise it's as safe or dangerous in Italy as anywhere else in Europe, and probably an order of magnitude safer than in London or any other UK big city.

You hear all kinds of stuff like this about Italy and most of it is utter nonsense which with experience you eventually come to realise. When I first bought my place over there in 2004 the big story was that they would come to your house in the night and feed a hose in through your vent so that they could gas you into unconsciousness while you were asleep and then rob the house or murder you at their leisure. It is and was complete utter rubbish of course but a lot of folk believed it and got into a flap about it at the time.