Costa Cruises is sailing to Palermo to support the Addiopizzo anti-mafia movement. Italian and international guests arriving in Palermo every Thursday aboard the Costa Smeralda can explore the city in a truly unique way by participating in the “Palermo No Mafia Tour,” a walking tour through Palermo’s historic center to discover symbolic sites of civic resistance against the mafia and the fight against organized crime.
The tour is organized by Addiopizzo Travel, a social cooperative and tour operator created by the Addiopizzo movement, which offers ethical tourism to say no to the Mafia.
In line with the principles of its “Manifesto for Values-Based, Sustainable, and Inclusive Tourism,” Costa Cruises has chosen an ethical and responsible shore experience for its guests in Palermo. The 3-hour walking tour will be an eye-opening experience, revealing a different side of Palermo, a city that is rebelling against the Mafia. Guided by locals, guests will deepen their understanding of the infamous Sicilian Mafia and learn about the anti-Mafia movement, going beyond the clichés and myths of the Godfather.
The route winds through the streets of the historic center, to show a new image of the city, visiting from the Massimo Theater to the Wall of Legality, a mural more than 60 meters high in which the faces of those who fell in the fight against the Mafia are represented.
The tour then continues to Piazza Beati Paoli to discuss the legendary but unfounded link between the sect depicted in Luigi Natoli's novel "I Beati Paoli" and the Mafia, passing by the famous and picturesque Mercato del Capo. The next stop is Piazza della Memoria, with its monument dedicated to the magistrates murdered by the Mafia, located behind the courthouse. Following this, the tour proceeds to the Cathedral, where the relationship between the Mafia and the Church, as well as the anti-Mafia commitment of martyrs like Father Pino Puglisi, will be discussed. The guests will then proceed to the City Hall.
The tour also includes a stop at one of the businesses displaying the "Pay if you don't pay" campaign logo: these are businesses that have said no to blackmail, publicly declaring that they do not want to continue paying protection money.
The Addiopizzo Committee is an anti-mafia movement founded in 2004 by a group of young people around the motto: “A town that pays 'pizzo' (protection money) is a town without dignity.” It operates from the ground up through a strategy of “critical consumption,” engaging citizens and tourists to support, through their purchases, shopkeepers who refuse to give in to extortion demands and who have openly spoken out against mafia harassment. The committee also offers free assistance to victims of extortion and loan sharking.
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