It is told in Monregalese that a wealthy couple from the Kingdom of Bahrain boarded a hot air balloon to decide from above where to build a love nest among the vineyards of the Piedmontese hills. And the spark would have struck right there where a handful of villas, almost all with swimming pools, overlook the Monvisoamong outdoor gyms, paths used by cyclists and the slow pace of public buses that take children to school, to Vicoforte.
The municipality of Briagliajust over 300 souls in the province of Cuneo, has become like this, attracting professionals and entrepreneurs, the richest municipality in Piedmont (with a per capita income of 43,475 euros), the fourth in Italy behind only the luxury of Portofino (90 thousand euros), to the land of Andrea Bocelli, Lajatico, to Pisa (52 thousand euros) and to one of the areas with the highest concentration of managers, Basiglio (49 thousand euros) near Milan.
«We are not the Portofino of Piedmont, but a small Beverly Hills-style municipality that has done things well by overcoming the difficulties that all small municipalities have» the mayor immediately puts his hand forward, Darius Philip, an entrepreneur from Mondovì, specialized in assistance with heating systems, who can tell firsthand the fortunes of this center in Cuneo with the Celtic name, because he chose to live here more than 15 years ago. «I came to live in Briaglia when it was still a predominantly agricultural village. But I saw all the potential”, recalls Filippi.
View of Monviso, strategic position, a stone’s throw from the motorway. But Briaglia’s success lies in having overcome the obstacles that generally trap small municipalities. «We didn’t have a bank, we didn’t have fast internet, we didn’t have school. But we rolled up our sleeves to enhance the wonderful panorama that welcomes us every morning”, recalls the mayor who will end his mandate in June.
The richest municipality in Piedmont has climbed the rankings by attracting artisans, small entrepreneurs, a dentist, managers with the simplicity of good ideas. No wifi? “We didn’t wait for the BUL, the government’s fast internet plan, but we built it ourselves on the bell tower of a deconsecrated church.” Is the bank missing? “We have made an agreement with the post office.” There’s no school? «We invest together to organize a public bus and send the kids to Vicoforte». And then came the restaurants and the relais Colle Messino (a historic villa for events). «The more we invest well, the more wealthy people arrive and we have resources to refurbish paths and roundabouts and therefore attract citizens». Now also from Bahrain. Like a Beverly Hills among the vineyards».
