L’istituzione del porto franco in un Mediterraneo senza frontiere

The free port has played a primary role in the Modern Age Mediterranean economic policy. In order to give a boost to the local economy, favourable regulations to the arrival and rapid integration of foreigners within the pre-existing socio-economic environment were established. In the Mediterranean ports – namely Genoa, Leghorn, Marseille, Trieste and Fiume, Messina, Nice, etc. – a great number of ship owners, vendors, simple traders or salesmen, together with their relatives, house helpers and employees used therefore to arrive. They moved there whilst maintaining tight relations with their motherlands. The local élites, scared of losing their power, opposed these ventures. It is possible to pinpoint and single out a few common elements in the regulation of these ports, which appealed to the contemporaries, and thanks to which social, cultural, linguistic and political barriers were being shattered. What stands out from this analysis is an image of a dynamic and open-minded Mediterranean and Europe.