NUORO, Italy, Feb 7 (Reuters) – In Nuoro, a remote town on the Italian island of Sardinia, a high stone wall rings the local prison, a fortress-like complex once known to keep high-profile mobsters and convicted terrorists away from the mainland.
Only a few major mafiosi are still held there and Sardinia is no longer considered a dumping ground for criminals, instead building an international reputation around tourism.
But this could change under a government plan by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni that alarmed the residents.
In December, an undersecretary of justice said that around 750 prisoners held under the rigid regime “41bis” will be concentrated only in a few dedicated facilities around Italy, supervised by special guard units to improve security.
Sardinia was said to have almost a third of them, divided between Sassari in the North, which already hosts around 90, the capital Cagliari, where around 90 should arrive this month, and Nuoro – which again raises concerns about the old stigma.
“Sardinia does not deserve to be considered the Cayenne of Italy,” said governor Alessandra Todde, while invoking the well-known penal colony formerly of French Guiana on Devil’s Island.
MAFIA INFILTRATION WORRIES
Italy’s 41bis regime, named for the law that governs it, is among the most restrictive in Europe. Introduced in 1992 after the murder of anti-mafia judge Giovanni Falcone, it imposes almost total isolation on prisoners and was designed to stop bosses running their operations from behind bars.
The law says that it should “preferably” be enforced on the islands of Italy. The late head of the Sicilian mafia, Salvatore “Toto” Riina, was among those once held in Sardinia.
Locals and authorities fear the government’s plan could prompt mafia groups to move from mainland Italy to be near relatives in prison, creating opportunities to launder illicit money and infiltrate business, particularly in less developed areas, such as Nuoro, a town of 30,000 people.
Silvio Lai, a Sardinian lawmaker with the opposition Democratic Party, visited the city prison last month and said renovation work was already underway, potentially making room for at least 30 new maximum security prisoners.
“Weak economies can be easily infiltrated, and Nuoro is about an hour’s drive from the Costa Smeralda,” Lai said, suggesting the mafia’s foothold in the city could quickly spread to the island’s luxury tourist resort.
The Ministry of Justice did not respond to a request to comment on the work.
ENHANCE NATIONAL SECURITY
Autonomous mafia groups have never emerged in sparsely populated Sardinia, but magistrates said they had opened investigations into an alleged penetration of clans in the north of the island, possibly encouraged by the presence of detained mobsters.
“Prosecutors are keeping a close watch on the phenomenon of Camorra (mafia group based around Naples) investments… especially in the tourism, hospitality and restaurant sectors,” said Cagliari’s chief prosecutor Luigi Patronaggio.
In a December meeting with regional officials, the Undersecretary of Justice Andrea Delmastro Delle Vedove reduced the risk of a mass move to Sardinia, the minutes show, arguing that families of detainees 41bis typically do not leave areas controlled by the clan.
“This (plan) will ensure greater national security… it will make individual prisons safer because only specialized prison guard units will be deployed,” Delmastro said.
However, Maria Cristina Ornano, head of the tribunal for the enforcement of the sentence in Cagliari, said that the police and the judiciary would need greater security resources if more mafiosi arrive.
“Once organized crime takes root here, we won’t be able to get rid of it. We can see it in parts of southern Italy, which are among the most economically and socially deprived areas,” she told Reuters.
‘SOLDIERS OF THE SOLDIERS’
The residents and officials of Nuoro said that the risk today is no longer of violence but of white collar crime.
“The mafia no longer shoots, it makes bids for public tenders. And with the significant funds of the European Union circulating, the danger of the infiltration of organized crime grows,” said Sebastian Cocco, a lawyer and local politician.
Tourism accounts for only 7% of production in the Nuoro region, shows Chamber of Commerce data of 2025, where the economy depends mainly on agriculture and is dominated by small firms.
Pietro Borrotzu, a Catholic priest who runs a prisoner rehabilitation cooperative in Nuoro, said precarious working conditions and low salaries provide an ideal environment for gangs.
“In this kind of context, organized crime can find many foot soldiers,” he said.
Business lobby Confindustria has accused successive governments of failing to invest in infrastructure and jobs in Nuoro.
“We are more of an island than Sardinia itself, far from ports and airports. Business incentives are needed, and instead we are being punished with 41bis prisoners,” said Pierpaolo Milia, the local head of the group.
FRAGILE HEALTHCARE
Like most of southern Italy, Sardinia has a fragile healthcare system and an aging population.
A Cagliari court document shows that the island, home to 1.5 million people, already has one of Italy’s highest prisoner-to-inhabitant ratios, and that residents face higher costs for inmate health care than in other parts of the country.
Transferring a mobster for medical treatment requires an escort of dozens of prison guards, and an increasing number of these hospitals could force the authorities to close entire wards.
“If you want to treat one of them you have to stop everything else, by blocking the public health service,” said Giacomo Porcu, mayor of Uta, which hosts the Cagliari prison.
Irene Testa, the regional guarantor for detainees, said that the government has so far made no commitment to strengthen prison health care or ease potential burdens on the general service.
“The island’s prisons are already on their knees. We cannot accept to become Italy’s penal colony again.”
(Reporting by Angelo Amante Editing by Gareth Jones)