But while some towns such as Mussomeli, in Sicily, and Zungoli, in Campania, have managed to sell several abandoned properties to foreigners eager to live the Italian dream, some have struggled to sell their empty homes, according to a report by CNN Portugal.

Among them is Patrica, a remote village of just 3,000 residents in the south of Rome, where more than 40 abandoned properties deserted in the early 1900s have been left to rot.

Located on a rocky plateau overlooking the Sacco Valley in central Italy, Patrica is an idyllic destination, but life here wasn’t easy for locals in the past.

Many left in search of a brighter future elsewhere, leaving their homes empty for decades.

In an attempt to breathe new life into this dying village, Mayor Lucio Fiordaliso has tried to emulate the success of other Italian villages that have put their abandoned houses up for sale for €1, but so far it hasn’t been very successful.

“We started mapping all the abandoned houses and made an official appeal to the original owners, inviting them to hand over their dilapidated family properties, but we were only able to sell two houses for €1”, lamented Lucio Fiordaliso.

While local authorities in cities that have become underpopulated due to earthquakes and other natural calamities have the jurisdiction to put abandoned houses up for sale without the permission of the owners, this is not the case in Patrica and other similar cities.

“First, we need the willingness of the owners, or their heirs, to get rid of their old houses”, stated the mayor.

Lucio Fiordaliso explained that the city received a “positive response” from 10 owners after sending a “public appeal to involve them in our one-euro project”, however, they withdrew at the last minute.

The mayor considered that the people who changed their minds may have done so due to problems with other family members who held shares in the same property.

Abandoned buildings in ancient Italian cities are sometimes divided among several heirs who own only one part, such as a bathroom, a balcony, or a kitchen, and nothing can be sold without the written consent of all the heirs, according to Italian law.

The only two abandoned properties that Patrica was able to sell under the one-euro program were wholly owned by two local inhabitants, so there was no need for further contact with other family members. These two inhabitants were able to sell the properties without any complications.