In front of the gigantic municipal casino, a banner calls out to passers-by with the inscription “SOS-Campione is dead”. The official closure of the establishment was officially proclaimed following mismanagement caused by falling income and excessively high salaries, AFP reports.
The end of an operation
All thanked, the 500 employees of the casino are trying to attract public opinion on the situation. Bankrupt, the gambling house has not recovered despite the intervention of a few people attached to the ministry. In July 2018, the Italian local justice decided to close the doors of the casino since it no longer covered the costs of the municipality. This verdict was then overturned by a Milan court for procedural flaw. So the file was put back on the table, but it was impossible to find a solution to the problem. According to AFP, trade unionist Vincenzo Falanga, to attract private investors to the capital, the law in force must change.
Like the slot machines in the casino, the inhabitants of the enclave are also suffering the consequences of this bankruptcy. For years, the territory has become a tax haven devoid of VAT with attractive tax reductions. Like Venice, Sanremo and Saint-Vincent, Campione is home to one of the four licensed casinos in Italy. The first was opened in 1917 and was closed during World War II. This has made Campione a rich and prosperous region for decades. According to Fiorenzo Dorigo, a former casino employee, those born here were lucky enough to find a job quickly after graduation. In 2007, the work of the new casino was completed with an architecture designed by the famous Mario Botta. The gaming establishment has a capacity of 3,100 players, enough to seduce thousands of visitors each year. Things took a turn for the worse following the legalization of slot machines in bars and cafes as well as the resurgence of online gambling, not to mention the decline in the value of the Swiss franc against the euro. On the market, competition is fierce with the opening of three Swiss casinos located a few kilometers from Campione. So many reasons that have greatly reduced the profits of the casino leading to its inevitable bankruptcy.