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Travel Safety in Sicily

The Middle East, the Balkans, Afghanistan, Kurdistan, Pakistan, Iraq. Today's world is full of trouble spots. In certain regions political unrest, and even war and terrorism, have been facts of daily life for decades. In the wake of the terrorist attacks in the United States, and subsequent military action in Afghanistan and Iraq, travelers from many Western countries cancelled their trips to Italy. In fact, the travel industry has suffered in many regions since September 11th 2001.

Personal safety will always be an important issue for travellers, but Italy has done a good job meeting the challenge of improved security standards in airports and other areas. Sicily remains a great choice, and for its ancient history it's even a good alternative to some less secure destinations in the Mediterranean region.

Here in Sicily, foreign visitors (including Americans) have only rarely been victims of anything more than an occasional purse snatching. The simple fact is that in Sicily street crime is quite rare. Sicily is a remarkably secure place for visiting vacationers, and hostile sentiment toward foreigners is unusual.

The only unpleasant thing you may encounter --and it's a rarity-- is the occasional protest march, especially in Palermo, Sicily's largest city. Sponsored by students, unions or leftist political parties, these non-violent protests block city streets for an hour or two. More than anything, they're inconvenient. But fear not. Sicily's "revolutionaries" usually break in time for lunch and mamma's pasta. Italy's governments change frequently enough, anyway. The revolution will have to wait!

Perhaps as a reaction against prevailing preconceptions about safety in Sicily (rooted in phenomena such as the Mafia), certain travel agents make statements to the effect that "safety is a non issue in Sicily." That's nonsense. And reckless nonsense, at that. Personal safety is an issue everywhere you travel. But Sicily is at least as safe as Ireland, Switzerland and Portugal.

Sicily's Muslim community consists primarily of hard-working North Africans resident in Palermo (the medieval Arabs' "Bal'harm") and a few other larger cities. In the quiet square next to Palermo's only mosque you'll find a delightful and welcoming Arab-Sicilian café where you can enjoy a sandwich and drink while you peacefully contemplate the "Sicilian solution" to the world's problems.

by Alessandro Monaco. © 2003 Simply Sicily.