Campione, Casino municipale. Photo/Bild: Wikipedia.

Campione Exit

Since 1 January 2020, a kind of Brexit has occurred at Lake Lugano. As of this date, the Italian town of Campione, an enclave in the canton of Tessin, is no longer part of the Swiss toll union, but of the Italian/EU toll union. Also, Swiss license plates, postal code (6911) and postal services have expired and become Italian. Swisscom also operates the telephone traffic.

The Swiss Franc is also no longer the official currency. This Italian enclave in Tessin has historical roots, dating back to the opening of the casino in 1917. The casino experienced decades of golden times, and most of the 2000 inhabitants worked (in) directly for the casino.

However, things went wrong with the introduction of the euro. The casino paid out in Swiss Francs (including salaries), but the source of income was in euros.

The casino went bankrupt.  The exchange rate in 2002 was still 1-1.55. The exchange rate is now almost 1 to 1.Campione is a symbol of the deplorable state of the eurozone.