The mayor of the Sicilian city of Agrigento banned the sale of Mafia-themed souvenirs in an effort to promote legality and avoid negative stereotypes of the island. On Friday, the Sicilian regional government gave airport companies the same message.
The ban follows incidents where shops in the city centre displayed souvenir figures depicting Sicilians in traditional attire, carrying the lupara sawn-off shotgun, emblazoned with the words “u mafiusu.” In response, Mayor Francesco Miccichè issued an ordinance prohibiting tourist shops from selling “objects and representations reminiscent of the mafia and mafiosi” or items that “praise, or refer in any way or form, to the mafia and organised crime.”
The ordinance asserts that selling such souvenirs “mortifies the Agrigento community, which has been engaged for years in spreading the culture of legality.” The ban aligns with Agrigento’s preparation to serve as Italy’s Capital of Culture 2025.
In 2019, authorities at Agrigento’s archaeological park, the Valley of the Temples, similarly banned the sale of Mafia-themed souvenirs in the area.
Airport Handling Companies Ordered to Stop Selling Mafia-Themed Souvenirs
The Sicilian regional government has directed airport handling companies to cease selling Mafia-themed trinkets and memorabilia. “Let the sale of merchandise and souvenirs on the Mafia theme end in the shops and commercial areas of Sicilian airports,” stated regional mobility councillor Alessandro Aricò.
Aricò wrote to the management teams of airports in Palermo, Catania, Comiso, Trapani, Lampedusa, and Pantelleria, urging them to maintain a “dignified image stripped of the usual negative stereotypes,” particularly in locations that serve as first points of contact for tourists and visitors. Among the most popular items currently sold are the ‘coppola’ flat cap, the ‘lupara’ rifle once favored by old-style mafiosi in the Sicilian countryside, and t-shirts referencing The Godfather film series.
