'Those who were lucky enough to be born here, were lucky enough to have a job,' Fiorenzo Dorigo, who worked at the casino for 21 years, told AFP.
'Rien ne va plus' - the French version of 'no more bets' - reads another banner on a tent set up by the unions representing some 500 casino employees, who suddenly found themselves without work.įor the 1,961 inhabitants of this one-square-kilometre (0.4-square-mile) sovereign Italian territory inside southern Switzerland, the closure of the public casino has been devastating.įor decades, it guaranteed the prosperity of the town, 23 kilometres (14 miles) from Italy. 'SOS Campione is dead' reads a giant banner hung opposite the immense casino, made up of modernistic cubic-shaped blocks with darkened windows stretching 10 floors high. Campione d'Italia, a tiny Italian enclave on the shores of Switzerland's Lake Lugano, is fighting for its survival after its main source of income - a giant casino - went bankrupt.
