Filettino Declares Independence from Italy
Filettino has become famous overnight for attempting to declare independence from Italy.
Filettino became famous last week when the Mayor of Filettino, Luca Sellari, decided that the best thing todo in the face of sweeping austerity cuts by the Italian government was to declare independence and start printing their own money.
Naturally the new banknotes, called Fiorito (flowered), have Luca Sellari’s head printed on them, but have been taken up by the town and are being used in local shops as a wave of curious tourists descend on the town.
Filettino is about 40 miles east of Rome in central Italy and has fewer than 600 residents. In August, as a result of a $65 billion emergency budget, the Italian government announced that any towns with fewer than 1,000 residents would be forced to merge with neighbors.
Italy desperately needs to cut costs as it struggles to cope with it’s financial problems.
The idea has been resisted across Italy and prospect of Filettino being forced to merge with neighbouring town Trevi, was seemingly the last straw for the Filettino authorities.
Filettino, A New Principality
Filettino now has everything that a new Principality could need, including it’s own website, coat of arms (resplendent on the t-shirts for sale in the local shop) and a local liqueur.
The story reminds me of an episode of Family Guy when Peter declares independence from America and ends up annexing his neighbors pool, but that’s another story.
Whether the move will be able to be sustained is open to debate, the currency is not quite official yet and is being marketed as a souvenir at this point.
The Mayor’s dream of becoming the Prince of Filettino is not dimmed however, he points out that Italy was originally lots of small Principalities and that San Marino to the north still manages to survive in such a form.
Photo: brtsergio
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