RENT-FREE IN ITALY

Airbnb’s marketers have come up with some creative competitions over the years, with pretty outthere prizes. In 2019, for example, one couple won a sleepover with the Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris. In 2018, the accommodation website tried to give away one night on the Great Wall of China (cancelled, however, after a social media backlash).

Last year, it picked 12 people — out of more than 314,000 applicants — to enjoy free Airbnb stays around the world for 10 months. Now, it’s looking for someone to live in Italy for a year, rent-free, in a snazzily restored “one euro” home in the village of Sambuca.

The “one euro home” campaign, which has been running in Italy for more than a decade, is a bid to counter dwindling village populations, revive rural communities, and lure a younger demographic away from cities with the dangled carrot of an almost free home. Municipalities offer up abandoned, dilapidated houses for a nominal fee. The specifics change from village to village, but buyers are required to commit to investing in renovations within a certain timeline.

The house in the Airbnb offer is one of these — after the designer makeover, of course. Airbnb says it worked with Italian architectural firm Studio Didea to transform the home in keeping with the style of the local landscape. The building spans three floors, with a living room, bedroom and en suite on the ground floor; a living room, kitchen, working space, bathroom and bedroom on the first floor; and more living space with a queen-size sleeper couch on the top floor.

The winner will get to live there for a year for free, and can bring along their family, partner, or a friend. While they will get dibs on whichever bedroom suits them best, they must rent out the second bedroom on Airbnb, the point being to encourage more visitors and further enliven the village. The occupant will get to keep the rental cash.

Sambuca’s mayor, Leonardo Ciaccio, said: “The beauty of this campaign is that it gives a second chance not just to an abandoned heritage home in the heart of our village — it’s also a second chance for the person who moves into it.

“We see it as a designer makeover for the house and the host. We’re looking for someone who wants to live with the local population and participate in all the important moments of the community, from the grape harvest to olive picking, and we can’t wait to welcome whoever gets selected!”

For more info or to apply, visit airbnb.com/1eurohouse.

Sambuca is a small rural village of about 6,000 inhabitants on a famous Italian island, in fact the largest island in the Mediterranean.

● To stand a chance of winning R500, tell us the Italian island on which you’ll find the village of Sambuca. Email your answer to travelquiz@sundaytimes.co.za before noon on Tuesday, January 25.

Last week’s winner is Keith Elliot. The correct answer was Elizabeth Tower.