Tourist guide to the Mafia on sale

Wednesday, 12 March 2008

Author tries to explain why Sicily can't rid itself of Mob

Palermo, March 11 - Everything you ever wanted to know about the Sicilian Mafia but were afraid to ask is the subject of a new book written especially for tourists that has hit the shelves in Italy this week.

The 55-page pocket guide, entitled 'Mafia For Tourists', is available in Japanese, German, English, Spanish and French and gives the low-down on the risks of walking the streets in Sicily, what a Mafioso looks like, and whether it's true that the Mafia won't kill women, children or priests.

''For years I've been accompanying groups of tourists who choose to come here with the aim of understanding our land and our problems,'' said Palermo-based author and Mafia scholar Augusto Cavadi.

''They always ask me the same questions: the relationship between politics and the Mafia, and how it's possible that we can't get rid of the Mob when there are 5,000 of them and five million Sicilians,'' he added.

The new guide provides answers to tourists' most frequently asked questions and attempts to explain the mechanics of the island's criminal underworld.

''In general foreign and Italian tourists have a stereotyped view of the phenomenon and I wanted to help people understand something that is very difficult to simplify,'' he said.

''It's not easy to explain to someone who doesn't know Sicily what the 'marsh' is, that grey zone that is not formally part of Cosa Nostra but that turns a blind eye to the Mafia''. Cavadi also offers a list of recommended books and films that present mobsters in a realistic light in the guide, which has been on sale in newspaper stands for a week.

''Some teachers have asked me to distribute it in schools so that children can read it,'' Cavadi said. ''Even though they live in Sicily, many have a distorted idea of the Mafia''.

Out of all the Italian regions, Sicily has stumped up the most money for annual tourist promotions since 2003. In 2006 it spent 316.4 million euros on attracting visitors to the region.

Photo: Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather.

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