Italy's most quarrelsome neighbours are to be found in the southern cities of Naples and Catanzaro, according to figures released on Thursday. In these two cities, apartment-dwellers appear to battle with alarming frequency over noise, animals, the cost of maintenance work and the use common areas.
Anaci, the national association of condominium administrators, said that between them Naples and Catanzaro accounted for almost a third of all the disputes which ended up before a judge. The vast majority of city-dwelling Italians live in apartment blocs, or condominiums, in which general expenses are shared.
Anaci director Carlo Parodi said that the number of disputes arriving before judges had actually fallen in the last five years and now stood at just over 2,000 a year. "If you consider that there are 935,000 condominiums in Italy, these numbers are extremely low," he said.
But low-key bust-ups, involving yelling and tantrums at condominium meetings, were more frequent than ever, he said. Still, figures showed that about three quarters of all disputes are resolved more-or-less amicably in the end, without the need for outside intervention.
But in 16% of cases the quarrelling neighbours only manage to patch things up after stern letters have been sent back and forth between lawyers.
