The mayor of Portofino has been accused of selling fake bags In the tobacco shop next to the town hall, bootleg Louis Vuitton and Fendi sold for 75 euro

Portofino is one of the Italian villages most loved by tourists, both for its sea, always ploughed by bulky yachts, and for its architecture, a meeting of Genoese alleyways full of shops leading to an airy and sunny piazza. Here, in recent days, a controversy has stirred up quite a bit of controversy. The mayor Matteo Viacava has been accused of selling fake Fendi, Chanel and Louis Vuitton in the tobacco shop next to the town hall and the municipal police headquarters, covered by the excuse of a sign reading Handmade, made in Italy.

Perhaps driven by a desire to sell more fakes in his tobacco shop, perhaps because he likes to see crowds of people jamming through the narrow streets of Portofino, Viacava does not seem concerned about the overcrowding problem that worries the Ligurian municipality, quite the contrary. "We are closing a season with exceptional numbers," he said about the phenomenon of overtourism, "and these represent work for all categories, from souvenirs to luxury brands." Meanwhile, the bags have been taken off the shelves of the tobacco shop, and just this morning the prefecture granted a dispensation to name a street after Berlusconi, the first in Italy.