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Antonio Panarello – an Italian in the Bulgarian village of Slanotran on ‎the Danube

Photo: BNR Vidin

Located about 16 kilometers from Vidin, on the banks of the Danube River, ‎the village of Slanotran has a population of about 500 people. The winters ‎here are very severe and the summers are scorching hot. It is this village, ‎unknown even to many Bulgarians, that turns out to be yet another stop in the ‎life of the Italian Antonio Panarello, as he assures - purely by chance.‎

Today's 67-year-old Antonio left his hometown of Messina in Sicily early, and ‎after studying to be an accountant, he earned his living as a lieutenant colonel ‎in the Economic Police in the Italian capital for decades. But on a "day of ‎enlightenment" (when his four children were already grown up) he decided ‎that he no longer wanted to work for the state and said to himself "Basta! I ‎want my freedom back!". He surrendered to his new-found freedom by ‎returning to his former passion - motorcycles. ‎Thus, he started travelling ‎around Europe on two wheels. And so one day he decided to find a new ‎home - in Bulgaria.

The decision came supposedly by accident, but we should ‎mention that Antonio had visited Bulgaria as early as the 1970s and 1980s via ‎the old Calafat-Vidin ferry, and maybe it was then that the seed of ‎curiosity ‎towards this region was sown. And so, in the not-so-distant 2015, the Italian ‎lived in an apartment in Vidin, but for a short time - from there he ended up in ‎the village of Slanotran, where he can easily indulge in his hobby - ‎motorcycles, and he already has as many as five of these!‎


"The problem was that I needed more space, and I didn't have any in the ‎apartment. Slanotran was just a coincidence. A friend really insisted that I go ‎see Slanotran. He said to me: "Come see this village, come!". So I went along ‎with some other people. And eventually, other people decided to take this ‎property, which wasn't what you see right now. It was a jungle, to say the least. ‎Almost everything you see now is made by me. This is one of my numerous ‎hobbies. Because among everything I worked as a boy, there was also this - ‎that's where my passion for crafting comes from," Antonio shared in an ‎interview with BNR’s regional station in Vidin.‎

Surprisingly, this part of North-West Bulgaria predisposes him to feel at home ‎‎- the local people treated him nicely, the nearby town of Vidin, where he goes ‎in the evening for a drink and meetings with friends, reminds him of his ‎hometown of Messina, and Italy is not so far away. In the village itself, he ‎communicates freely with many residents in his native language, since they ‎went to work in Italy. In fact, as Antonio points out, this - that many of the ‎inhabitants of small settlements in our country are forced to seek a living ‎abroad - is one of the scourges for Bulgaria:‎

Photo: Svetoslav Tsvetanov
‎"The problem is that the villages here in Bulgaria are abandoned. Therefore, ‎the time I spend in the village is nice when I have something to do. If not, I take ‎my bike or car, or get on a plane and go somewhere. Of course, in winter it is ‎pleasant in the village. At least for me. The first winter I spent here was in ‎‎2016 when it was minus 30 degrees and there was a lot of snow, it was nice."‎

Other problems faced by Antonio Panarello himself are the lack of cultural life ‎even in regional cities such as Vidin, the poor transport infrastructure and the ‎language barrier:‎

‎"When you go to an administrative office and want to ask about a document ‎or simply need information, the people do not speak English, and the ‎documents are written in Bulgarian. I have registered vehicles here and I have ‎Bulgarian documents, and in the traffic police, for example, there are very few ‎people at the counter who are able to pay attention to a foreigner who has ‎many questions. If Bulgaria is part of the European Union, wants to complete ‎this cycle and become fully part of Europe, it must also think about the ‎personnel in its administrative services. This is a very important issue," ‎Antonio emphasizes.‎

Photo: Svetoslav Tsvetanov


But the Italian prefers to focus on the positive side of life and enjoy the good ‎that it offers him. Problems, albeit of a different nature, are everywhere. ‎Therefore, when asked if he is thinking of leaving Slanotran, he answers ‎firmly: "No! As long as I can or until there are more serious reasons, really ‎important ones, I think I will stay here".‎


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Photos: BNR Vidin, Svetoslav Tsvetanov

Text: Miglena Ivanova  (based on an interview by Sonia Valerieva, BNR-‎Vidin)

Editing by E. Karkalanova


Translated and published by Rositsa Petkova



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