New Palermo Shop Goes Mafia Free

Travel Blog  •  Michael Yessis  •  03.12.08 | 3:49 PM ET

Punto Pizzofree, which opened last weekend, promises that “all products and staff are 100 per cent guaranteed Mafia-free, supplied only by shops and producers which have stood up to Sicily’s Cosa Nostra and refused to pay protection money,” according to the Guardian.

That’s a big deal in Palermo, where the majority of shopkeepers is said to pay up to 500 euros a month in protection payments known as pizzo. Hence, the name of the shop.

While Punto Pizzofree stands on principal, it also sounds like an interesting place to shop. It sells everything “from marmalade and pot plants to pyjamas and wristwatches,” as well as “produce from farms seized from jailed Mafia bosses including Salvatore ‘The Beast’ Riina.”

If you want to pick your own produce on The Beast’s former farm, soon you’ll be able to do that, too. According Italy Mag, one of his properties is being turned into an agriturismo. (via Gridskipper)

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