Anna Wintour risks Sicilian mafia

An inspired attempt to breathe life back into a Sicilian town that was devastated by an earthquake 40 years ago – the mayor is offering apartments at one euro a pop – has caught the imagination of a number of famous types, among them former Genesis singer Peter Gabriel and fashion queen Anna Wintour (pictured), editor of American Vogue.

The Italian newspaper Corriere della Serra claims that the offer has attracted 6,000 applicants, all of whom perhaps see the chance to re-create a new dolce vita in the craggy hilltop town of Salemi in western Sicily. The reason the rich and famous are queuing up – even Massimo Moratti, the owner of the Inter Milan football team, is rumoured to have applied - is said to be down to Salemi's new mayor, Vittorio Sgarbi. In addition to presiding over the town's affairs, he is a well-known TV chat show host, "art Tsar" of the city of Milan and the founder of his own political party, the Party of Beauty.

The new newcomers will have their work cut out. The buildings are in a poor state of repair – many of the villagers upped sticks after the quake and never returned – and part of the deal is that the new owners spend a minimum of 20,000 euros on them. Says Sgarbi of Wintour, Gabriel, et al: "They will upturn a migratory flux which has seen the Sicilians go north in search of money and fortune. Now it will be the rich from the north who will come here and there is no way they cannot bring riches with them."

But while the idea undoubtedly has its appeal, there a few problems. Salemi suffers from high unemployment and the ever-present menace of Sicily's Mafia, who are notoriously adept kidnappers and ransom-askers, is unlikely to help re-sell values.