Il mondo visto dalla provincia

L’autore abita lontano dal dissenso e dalla frenesia delle capitali, nella regione più provinciale del Ticino, circondato da palme e raggi di sole. In questa regione, i dettagli più importanti della politica mondiale non penetrano mai, e ci si accontenta di un quadro generale. Lanciamo oggi uno sguardo a questo mondo curioso:

Svizzera e Italia, frode fiscale e segreto bancario

Giriamo la nostra attenzione verso sud e confrontiamoci, lì il governo combatte il problema come i nostri vicini del nord. Il problema, si ricorda, è la peculiarità della Svizzera di distinguere tra frode fiscale e sottrazione fiscale (quest’ultima non è punita così severamente). Per questo piace molto anche ai cittadini degli Stati vicini. I loro governi però, così come l’Italia, si accigliano.

Anche al sud lo stato è desideroso di incassare miliardi. Sfugge però la fattibilità, per evitare di danneggiare concretamente la sua elite. Per quei lettori, che forse non conoscono neppure le circostanze, bisogna aggiungere che, in Italia “risparmio fiscale” è una capacità molto ammirata ed espressione d’intelligenza, come ogni persona dall’uomo più umile fino al “Cavaliere” può confermare.

Collegato alla passata tradizione italiana delle indulgenze religiose – o confessioni – ora lo Stato rilascia un decreto ogni paio d’anni (in provincia, se contiamo giusto, 3 volte negli ultimi otto anni), valido per alcuni mesi per chi ha peccato con le tasse. A seconda delle loro condizioni, i peccatori accolgono questa offerta non ringraziando, o forse si, per cui essi accettano poi di dover pagare un piccolo obolo. Naturalmente chi nel frattempo si è attenuto alle regole e non ha potuto approfittarne, riceve per così dire dallo Stato una conferma della sua stupidità e questo ogni paio d’anni.

La flessibilità, di adattare le leggi ai propri commerci, viene anche adottata dalla direzione statale in molti altri campi della nostra vita. Non significa questo minare alla propria autorità, suicidare una Nazione?

Hm. L’osservatore provinciale considera il corso pacifico e si gratta la testa.

Alla fine è sorprendente che il paese riesca a seguire incolume la sua strada come lume della cultura, e questo ormai da centinaia di anni. Lo Stato propaga il messaggio, non prendete l’autorità dell’autorità troppo seriamente, ma vedetela come l’arte del “Teatro di Caspar” – se questo è unicamente opportunismo o alla fine – inconsapevolmente – dietro a ciò si nasconde una grande saggezza?

Posted By: Ueli F. Schnorf

A Lugano nel Museo d’Arte si terrà questa esposizione dedicata ad uno dei più grandi fotografi contemporanei: Robert Mapplethorpe (1946 - 1989). Un artista che, per il contenuto erotico talvolta spinto delle sue opere, ha suscitato altrove perplessità, reazioni e scandali, ma che nell’esposizione allestita a Lugano si presenta in una visione depurata dalle punte più aspre e critiche, privilegiando la sua produzione puramente figurativa e il confronto con opere di celebrati artisti del patrimonio universale.

La mostra allestita al Museo d’Arte di Lugano presenta un significativo repertorio di oltre novanta immagini che illustrano la costante ricerca di un’ideale perfezione plastica nel lavoro di Robert Mapplethorpe; ricerca che ha permesso di stabilire un affascinante dialogo tra il fotografo americano e i grandi maestri del Rinascimento, in particolare Michelangelo

Morto a solo 42 anni questo artista nordamericano con il suo lavoro ha contribuito in maniera sostanziale a far includere la fotografia fra le forme d’arte riconosciute. Isabella H. Ielpo, Ufficio Ascona 16.04.2010

Winter season 2009/2010 is going to be history soon with spring rushing in. Only in some parts of Switzerland’s impressive alpine setting, the ski season seems to be never-ending. One of these locations is Andermatt, a small alpine village located in the “Ursern valley” which is a high mountain valley in the footsteps of the tremendous “Gotthardmassive”. The “Gotthardnmassive”, amongst others, is home to one of the Alps most important north-south routes with its Gotthard tunnel, connecting northern Switzerland (and Europe) with Ticino, the very southern part of Switzerland, but also with Italy and rest of southern Europe. Furthermore, right two of Europe’s biggest river, the Rhine and the Rhone, have their genesis in this high alpine environment. The fashion city of Milan and Switzerland’s metropolitan city of Zurich with its international airports are only 1.5 and 2 hours by car away what makes Andermatt Swiss Alps very convenient to reach.

This beautiful landscape is home to the new Andermatt Swiss Alps resort, a year-round retreat where you can enjoy skiing in winter times and play golf in the summer. There is also the fact that a new wellness and spa centre is going to be built where you can relax and get spoiled by distinguished treatments.

One of the goals of Andermatt Swiss Alps is to increase the quality of lifestyle to a maximum. Just one part of it will be the car fee village centre what reduces the noise level by far so you can purely enjoy the tranquility of the location. Restaurants, bars and shopping is only steps away and should you need your car you just take the elevator down to the garage which spans almost underneath the whole village centre with access to all residences and hotels.

A highlight of Andermatt Swiss Alps and also one of the first landmarks will be the new 5-star-superior-hotel – The Chedi Andermatt. The Chedi will offer hotel rooms, apartments, penthouses, residences, but also fine restaurants, bars and its own exclusive wellness and spa facility.

The ground breaking ceremony took place last year and with the development in good progress, the sale of the first two residences with 2.5 bedroom apartments up to 5.5 bedroom penthouses will start this April. Zurich will be home to the exclusive Andermatt Swiss Alps showroom where you can get a feel of the exclusive interior design strategy and all the architectural layouts of all different residences. Please feel free to contact us for more information on the stunning new development what will soon become a sought-after place for your holiday home in a breath taking alpine surrounding.

Posted By: Peter Rabitz

Leading the revolution has been the slogan of this year’s annual conference of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World. With 850 attendees, the enthusiasm at the conference was impressive, with so many industry leaders coming together to strategize and inspire. Affiliate brokerages of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® representing annual sales production of $280 billion convened Tuesday through Thursday, March 9-11, at the Encore at Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas for LeadingRE’s annual conference. Approximately 40% of the network’s total member companies were represented at the conference by their principals, CEOs or other senior management. The conference audience includes over 100 of the nation’s top 500 companies based on REAL Trends data, as well as firms from eight countries around the world.

Ueli Schnorf (CEO/owner of Wetag) and Peter Rabitz (Director – International Division) represented the company. The conference was highlighted by a diverse list of speakers including Guy Kawasaki of Apple Computer fame; FHA Commissioner Dave Stevens; Ron Peltier of HomeServices of America; elite athlete Robin Benincasa; Adam Singer of TopRank Online Marketing; Scott Murphy of Sears Holding Corp.; Channing Dawson, Kelly Roark, Rich Lacy and Vikki Neil of Scripps Networks; Carter Maslan of Google; Sami Inkinen and Pierre Calzidilla of Trulia; Sara Bonert and Greg Schwartz of Zillow; Jennifer Baumann of DLA PIPER; Dustin Luther of 4realz.net; Randy LeBlanc of TIBCO; Ian Morris of Market Leader; Marc Davison and Brian Borero of 1000Watt Consulting; leadership coach Mike Staver; market game-changer Steve Harney; real estate technology coach Matthew Ferrara; and an impressive line-up of LeadingRE member and industry speakers.

With more than a decade successfully in business, Wetag Consulting has become not only the exclusive affiliate for Leading Real Estate Companies of the World and their luxury component Luxury Portfolio, but also the exclusive affiliate of Christie’s Great Estates for the canton of Ticino, the most southern part of Switzerland. Based on continued hard work, strong business ethics, knowledge of the local, but also world wide luxury real estate market – the company became leader in the luxury real estate market. Showcasing a broad selection of the finest properties available in Ticino and serving an elite clientele of seller and buyers alike – Wetag became number one choice for national and international clients to be chosen as their property specialist. Serving clients coming from almost 70 nations, Wetag understands the globalization of real estate business. Ueli Schnorf states: “You have to be internationally connected, not only to stay on top of what’s going on in the industry, but also to understand your clients’ needs and point of view on properties. The mixture of nationalities we serve reflects also a mixture of different tastes. An American buyer might look for totally different features than a Russian client and to knowing these different interests and also behaviour, we certainly feel comfortable to assist all of our clients. Our membership in elite networks like Christie’s Great Estates and Leading Real Estate Companies of the World also provide us with great global connections and ensure that our seller’s properties get represented in a very exclusive way. With that, we can truly say that we have a global reach what gives us an edge in our local business.”

Wetag Consulting’s international approach is being underlined by this years LeadingRE’s award ceremony where the company has been honoured with the RELO Home Search – Outstanding International Contributor award. The RELO Home Search Outstanding Contributor award recognizes exceptional contributions made by international LeadingRE members who have helped advance the development of RELOHomeSearch.com by providing an abundance of community content, property listings, and invaluable feedback to aid in the site’s growth. RELOHomeSearch.com is an exclusive service of the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® real estate network. RELOHomeSearch.com is a community research tool that you can use to find information about cities, neighbourhoods, zip code areas and of course real estate listing from around the globe. In addition, Wetag Consulting just received LeadingRE’s Website Quality Certification.

Posted By: Peter Rabitz

For decades, some of Locarno’s long time residents have complained about the deconstruction of all these splendid and rich ornamented liberty style villas in Locarno and its neighbouring communities. Ticino, the southern most canton of Switzerland bordering with Italy and famous for its beautiful lakes Lake Maggiore and Lake Lugano, is also famous for its traditional and Mediterranean influenced architecture. It is this very special mixture between Ticino’s lifestyle where alpine scenery meets Italian Mediterranean influenced way of life and architecture.

Wealthy and old-established traders built their residences along historic routes used by dealers travelling from south to north. Bellinzona, Ticino’s capital and UNESCO world heritage site, is a historical city poised as a gateway to the Alpine passes of St. Gotthard, San Bernardino and Lucomagno (Lukmanier) used by dealers from around the world. In fact, this strategic position made the cash tills ring because of the toll what was paid by dealers travelling on these historic routes.

Great examples of these old liberty style villas still can be seen these days, but more and more had to make way for new developments and residences. Unfortunately, this is characteristic for our times where investors and ROI is driving decisions and many of these grand villas where built on enormous plots right within the city which became very sought-after for investors to build new living quarter for high profits. However, thanks to a small number of private owners and some investors with the right sense for these beautiful buildings, there are still a number of villas which has been restored in recent years to shine in new splendour more than ever.

Currently, there are a few great examples of such gorgeous residences up for sale by Wetag Consulting. Just recently, a magnificent restored liberty style villa, situated in a very central location within Locarno/Muralto and overlooking Lake Maggiore, hit the market. The villa which was build around 1910 stretches over 3 levels and has been restored with the highest care to its details. Its façade shines in a very powerful yellow in contrast to the white stucco, outlining the different levels and shapes of the house. The interior is a balanced mixture of traditional features like mouldings, panel of ceiling as well as ceiling paintings and modern fixtures to spoil its residents with its modern amenities.

Another one I would like to point out is a fantastic and rare beautiful 19th century villa at the lakefront of Lake Maggiore in Pallanza. The neighbourhood of Pallanza is well-known for its traditional style mansions just like this one. Sited on a flat, park-like garden with approx. 40 meter of lakefront, the stately palazzo is enthroned in this absolutely exclusive position with stunning views onto the lake. After the total renovation in 2006, the villa features a rich ornamented façade in very pleasing colours. The interior is also highlighted by beautiful restored mouldings throughout and period style parquet floors.

These two properties are perfect examples how gorgeous living in such a surrounding could be. We recognize that there is a small movement of people who are looking for these rare gems of old-time atmosphere and who show a high profession to preserve these treasures for future generations.

Posted By: Peter Rabitz

The outcry was huge when Italy’s government announced the “Scudo Fiscale” in October last year. “Scudo” means ‘protection’ or ‘shield’ and that’s how Italy called his program to repatriate foreign parked money. But, what is the reason to enforce such a tax amnesty – already the third since year 2001?

The ‘Tax Shield’ is based on a lower penalty tax of only 5% for those who report their accounts of “black money” they have with foreign banks - where most of them are in Ticino. Why Ticino? Well, it’s a canton of Switzerland where the official language is Italian and Lugano - Switzerland’s third biggest banking centre - is only a half hour away from the Italian border. In addition, 80% of all financial services in Lugano and Chiasso are performed for Italian clients.

However, “Scudo” is basically a kind of safety shield against the loss of more money by not taking advantage of the offer. There is even a bigger treat to this third tax amnesty – the so called “Juristic Repatriation”. Financial delinquents are able to transfer the administration of finances of their “black money” to an Italian trustee corporation which will assert a right of tax amnesty. The trick is the following: the investment still remains with the respective bank in Ticino. First of all, this is supposed to encourage more delinquents to declare their “black money” accounts they have, secondly, the Italian treasury would collect even more taxes and thirdly, there wouldn’t be that many clients leaving Ticino banks as feared in the very beginning. Thanks to this ‘juristic repatriation’, legalized assets will remain within Swiss bank accounts and these clients also remain clients of these banks.

Italian media report that 80% of all newly declared assets, about 110 billion Swiss Frances, are deposited in Ticino. Media presumes that two-third of all money managed in Ticino (estimated 400 billions Swiss Francs) is based on business with Italian clients. So far, tax wise, there are 95 billions legalized in connection with the third “Scudo”, compared to 75 billion during the first two amnesties. Many of the banks in Ticino are quite lucky under the circumstances and remain managing at least 60% to 65% of these newly legalized money as investment, but there are also a few banks which had to close their Ticino branches in result to quite some losses.

Despite ongoing discussions about Switzerland’s role in the world wide financial business, the country known for its Swiss banking secrecy will still be a good choice to manage investments.

Posted By: Peter Rabitz

Everybody knows him: Dimitri – the world-famous clown. In 1971 no permanent theatre existed in the Ticino. For Dimitri and his wife Gunda this was a challenge and they decided to establish their own theatre in the centre of the village of Verscio. The “Teatro Dimitri” became the meeting-place where Clown Dimitri and his fellow artists, actors, musicians, dancers, soap bubble blowers, jugglers, illusionists and animal tamers were able to present their shows.

A buvette was attached to the theatre, and whether you just called in for a drink or two or maybe for a chat with an artist after his show, it became a stock exchange of ideas for patrons and artists alike.

However, the first auditorium offered 100 seats only. Therefore, a permanent lack of space and financial difficulties were the order of the day. Today the much-loved theatre offers a rich program for everyone – the young and elder people.

In 1975 Dimitri opened the “Scuola Teatro Dimitri”, a theatre school where the teaching is primarily based on the study of movement, of the body and his expression possibilities.

Since its opening pantomime, acrobatics, dance and theatrical improvisation have been chosen as principal subjects. Later on, study of rhythm as well as breathing and voice training were added. Workshops on various forms of expression such as Commedia dell’Arte, clowning and special dance forms complete the curriculum.

The “Scuola Teatro Dimitri” offers a complete basic training in the field of theatrical expression. It teaches various traditional and new techniques and aims to develop the individual talents of each student in a creative way in relation to his personality.

Source: http://www.teatrodimitri.ch

Posted By: Peter Rabitz

As its name implies – maggia means major – the Valle Maggia is the largest valley of the northern part of Ticino also called Locarnese - approx 570 km², what is round about a fifth of the whole Canton Ticino. Piero Bianconi describes it as „branched, knotted and separating like a hand: to Val di Campo, Val di Bosco, Val Bavona, Val Lavizza and Val Peccia.“ It offers numerous attractions which are in the first place the gorgeous nature with its river and their favoured sandy banks, rock climbing and other mountain activities such as the approx. 700km of official trails. Bosco Gurin, well-known as a skiing resort, is the only place in the Ticino where the habitants speak a German dialect. The place does not only offer beautiful slopes, but also a very interesting museum about the village’s history. And in the „Museo di Valemaggia “, which is in the Palazzo Franzoni in the old core of Cevio, you can learn about the sensational story of the whole valley. Did you know that from 1907 till 1965 the „Maggia-Bahn“, a small railway which transported passengers from Locarno to Bignasco has existed? The story about this historical railway and much more is on display in that precious museum. But that is not all. The valley also offers a rich cultural artefact as for example the „Vallemaggia Pietraviva “ and the„Vallemaggia Magic Blues “ which is celebrated by international artists yearly on the numerous village squares since a long time. And last but of least a further attraction are the lovely typical Rustici – the old Ticino Houses – and Palazzi.

Source: www.si-su.ch

Posted By: Claudia Starck