ADVERTISEMENTIn souvenir shops around the Italian island of Sicily, you’ll often find Mafia-themed merchandise from magnets and t-shirts to bottle openers and shot glasses.
The Sicilian mafia continues to operate on the island, engaging in criminal activities like extortion, narcotrafficking and kidnapping.
Agrigento is a town in southern Sicily still struggling with Mafia control - and it is also set to be the Italian Capital of Culture in 2025.
In a bid to change its international image and crack down on the glamourisation of the criminal organisation, the town has decided to ban the sale of Mafia-themed souvenirs.
Sicilian town bans Mafia-themed souvenirs
Francesco Miccichè, the mayor of Agrigento, has brought in a ban on the sale of souvenirs that feature the Mafia.
It is common to find images and symbols of the underworld organisation on merchandise, including Sicilians in traditional dress holding a sawn-off shotgun known as a ‘lupara’.
The ordinance hopes to change the way tourists see the town and send a clear message that the activities of the criminal organisation are not condoned by local authorities.
"Considering that the sale of such products in the territory of Agrigento humiliates the local community, which has been committed to spreading the culture of legality for years, I order a ban on the sale of any type of object that praises, or refers in any way and form, to the mafia and organised crime," the mayor told Italian press.
The local police force has been given powers to inspect gift shops in the town and issue fines if prohibited products are found. How much businesses will have to pay has not yet been confirmed.
Agrigento cleans up its images as it prepares to be Italy’s Capital of Culture in 2025
The ban comes as Agrigento readies itself to be Italy’s capital of culture next year and aims to shine the spotlight on its cultural riches rather than Mafia heritage.
The city council says the cultural programme will include 44 new projects which explore humans’ relationship with nature.
One of the most important events will be a concert by the Italian operatic pop trio Il Volo at the Valley of the Temples.
Tourists already flock to this UNESCO heritage site with archaeological remains that date back to when the island was an Ancient Greek colony in the 6th and 5th centuries BC.
The city proper is a palimpsest of ancient, medieval, Baroque and modern architecture and there is a noteworthy archaeological museum.