Monticchiello: The Tuscan Village That Defeated Overtourism

Maria, 45, produces organic olive oil on small plots in the Monticchiello area and sells it in a small, locally sourced shop in the village's main square. While all of Tuscany's cities, from art cities to villages, are being overwhelmed by mass tourism, causing serious hardship for local residents, in Monticchiello, a hamlet of Pienza in Tuscany's Val d'Orcia, a tourism model seems to be working, allowing the village to be preserved without disrupting it and without sacrificing the opportunities offered by year-round tourist arrivals. Maria is a symbol of this model, as she also describes in the shows she performs at the Teatro Povero in the small Tuscan town.

The first piece of this model is represented by the fundamental choices made on the territory by the municipal administration: no large five-star hotels, but only small establishments, starting with agritourism, restaurants, and trattorias reserved for local operators and not external investors; tour buses that remain outside the village, effectively accessible only to pedestrians or residents; and limited parking. The sum of these measures discourages the arrival of hit-and-run tourism in Monticchiello, usually devastating to the very delicate balance of the beautiful Italian villages.

The second point is land protection, which, among other things, since the Val d'Orcia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, already has international, rather than local, coverage: new building permits are highly restrictive (and focused on "conservative restoration" and renovation projects); expansions are minimal and well-motivated (for residents' needs, not to create tourist accommodation); zero land consumption (farmhouses can be renovated but not built from scratch); and protection of the agricultural landscape of the area.

Third, local commerce is not disrupted by tourism, so there's strong protection for shops that sell truly local products, not the usual, cheap souvenirs, and for local artisans, to the detriment of chain stores or the usual "airport" outlets. Finally, Airbnb licenses are very rare, preventing apartments from being exploited for tourism.

The entire anti-overtourism system relies on intense participation by the local community. Throughout the year, the Teatro Povero hosts performances in which the actors are the residents themselves, performing texts that address the village's problems and possible solutions. These performances inform the municipal administration's decisions.

Read also

• Incentives for moving to the villages
• What to do when you decide to live in the countryside
• "Organic Cities": a network of 250 municipalities promoting organic farming.