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Beautiful seaside city loved by tourists surprisingly tops least liveable in Europe chart


A stunning ancient Italian settlement that has been home to Greeks, Romans and Normans is surprisingly turning off modern-day residents who have voted it the least liveable city in Europe.

Palermo is the capital of the Italian island of Sicily and basks in some of the warmest year-round temperatures anywhere in the European Union.

But despite lovely architecture, delicious cuisine and warm seas and sandy beaches, only 62 percent of residents say they are happy living there.

According to a new report from the European Commission, the people living on an island made famous in the Godfather mafia films say corruption is a big problem, with 78 percent saying it is an issue.

Access to the local authorities was also a problem. Palermo scored joint-bottom in the report with only half of residents saying they could access services easily online.

And when people did eventually get hold of officials, the city again scored bottom, with only 24 percent agreeing in a table measuring if “the procedures used by the city’s local public administration are straightforward and easy to understand”.

The city, which can trace history back 2,700 years, also scored last in a chart asking if people were satisfied with the time it took for the local authority to resolve a problem.

Just 13 percent said they were happy with the timescale, with Palermo only narrowly beating fellow Italian cities, Rome (17 percent) and Naples (27 percent), in a race to last place.

However, some people in other cities in Europe may think locals in Palermo might need to count their blessings as the location still has some of the best weather on the continent.

Even in winter temperatures rarely drop below double figures, and in spring, summer and autumn the mercury often hovers between the mid 20s and 30s degrees Celsius.

And despite apparent administration failings in Palermo, Conde Nast Traveller says it is still well worth a visit for holidaymakers who can enjoy “a theatrical confusion of ornate façades and crumbling backstreets”, adding: “The city could provide the setting for a 1930s gangster thriller, a medieval fantasy with secret codes and evil monks, a bodice-ripping romance or a contemporary film noir.”

The least liveable cities in Europe

  1. Palermo, Italy
  2. Athens, Greece
  3. Istanbul, Turkey
  4. Tirana, Albania
  5. Naples, Italy
  6. Belgrade, Serbia
  7. Rome, Italy
  8. Skopje, North Macedonia
  9. Miskolc, Hungary
  10. Podgorica, Montenegro

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