Archived Articles

Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.

He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.

In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.

Global Real Estate Project
News Index

Directories
  Int'l Realty
  US Realty

There are many mysteries surrounding one of the smallest states in Europe and perhaps the oldest still functioning republic on earth San Marino. One of these mysteries is its foundation - when exactly and why it was created and which is more important, why it wasn't destroyed during the centuries? Another mystery is that it was maybe the only country in the world to refuse by a popular vote to get larger.

This was 200 years ago during the age of the Napoleonic wars. San Marino was used as a refuge from more than 100,000 Italians and Jews during the World War II but the Germans didn't attack the defenseless country. Why? Again this is a mystery. After the above-mentioned war for a brief period the country flirted with the communist ideology but this never led to worsening the political relations with the United States. Just imagine a communist country far behind the NATO lines during the Cold War! Again we hit a mystery. But the country itself isn't a mystery. It really exists, landlocked in central Italy at 6 mi from the Adriatic Sea and at less than 100 mi from the Italian cities Bologna and Ancona.

According to popular belief, a Christian stonemason named Marinus who gave his name to the small rebellious community, founded San Marino in 301 A.D. Unfortunately there are no written documents suggesting that this was exactly the case but, on the other hand, how many ancient nations can find such undisputable written proofs about their own foundation? As one of the smallest territorial entities in Europe (third smallest after the Vatican and Monaco), San Marino is heavily dependant on the foreign trade and on the good relations with the surrounding state Italy. Today in fact the most important industry in this tiny country is the tourism, contributing to more than 50% of its GDP. Just to illustrate how important the tourism is: the numbers show that 3 million visitors tour the country of just 27,730. That means more than 100 tourists per capita. What attracts these flows of tourists? The first event of major importance for the country is the Grand Prix. Among the major attractions is the medieval castle standing far above the valley. For a country with such size, the tourism industry is remarkably developed with something for every budget. The hotels vary from 1 to 5 stars and the average nigh costs $40-60 with the more luxury rooms easily surpassing $100.

San Marino is an interesting place, not just for the tourists but also for the investors, big and small. In the last decades it was considered as one of the tax heavens in Europe together with Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Andorra and Monaco. Right now the European Union exercises a strong pressure upon these countries to harmonize their financial legislatures with those of the Union. It's not clear what will be the exact result of this pressure but given the economic and the trade dependence of San Marino the point isn't whether but when it will retreat. For those who aren't afraid of such development and explore the possibilities of moving to San Marino, the prices and the rents there aren't among the lowest in Europe. The new 2BR apartments can be found for $250,000-300,000. The detached houses are twice that price. The rents for the average apartments begin from $900-1,000 per month with 1-year lease. If the property pictures shown on the San Marino real estate sites are representative, the dominant modern housing style is a mixture of some classic Italian renaissance forms with the modern waves from the United States.

San Marino profile:

• Area: 61.2 sq km
• Population: 27,730 (July 2002 est.)
• Population growth rate: 1.41% (2002 est.)
• Net migration rate: 11.29 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
• Life expectancy at birth: 81.33 years
• GDP per capita: purchasing power parity $34,600 (2001 est.)

(Source: CIA - The World Factbook 2002)

--------------------

See also the directory of companies providing real estate services in, and general real estate information of Italy.