Regional Revitalization Packages for Expats: Italy and Portugal

I wrote about the "I choose Bulgaria" initiative recently which incentivizes people to re-locate to Bulgaria to address demographic challenges. There's another sub-trend emerging within this overall re-location space called "regional revitalization."

Countries with large numbers of immigrant-hopefuls like Italy or Portugal don't just want people to come into the country (where they are likely to cluster in already overcrowded urban centers), they want to usher immigrants into areas with declining population.

In the Tuscany region of Italy, for example, there was a "Mountain Residence" Call last year which allocated €2.8MM for EU citizens (or permanent residents of Italy) to purchase homes in villages numbering <5K people. Grants range from €10K - €30K up to 50% of the home price. The initiative is now in the final stages of approval for home buyers.

Portugal launched "Emprego Interior Mais" during the pandemic and has slowly been improving the incentives each year, including expanding the program to cover foreign nationals and foreign companies. The grant is up to €4,827 to re-locate into the Portuguese countryside (i.e. moving inland from the coast), with up to €878 available for the move itself.

While these programs can come with a hefty amount of pre-qualifications/stipulations (minimum stays, residency documents, etc.), for those who meet them these can be really attractive programs. It also seems to be attracting the desired demographic: the Portuguese government reported 52% of the applicants so far have been under the age of 34.