At first glance, Campione d'Italia appears to be just another small Italian town, albeit one found a few kilometres across the Swiss border. Towards seven o'clock in the evening, pensioners gather in the central piazza to enjoy a glass of white wine and talk about football.
Couples stroll in the sunshine before choosing a trattoria in which to eat.
Young men in sunglasses drive scooters at hair-raising pace down narrow side streets. It is only when its 2300 inhabitants receive their monthly salaries and pensions that it becomes clear why this lakeside community is resented and envied throughout the rest of Italy. This is no ordinary town. It is the richest and most bizarre community in the country, subsidised unwillingly by the Italian taxpayer. Bulging bank balances reveal that every state employee in Campione, from the most junior council employee to the middle-ranking teacher, earns at least three times as much as his counterpart in Florence, Milan or Turin.