On the climb to Livigno, atop the mountain pass before the road glides down to the village hosting snowboarding at the Winter Olympics, there sits a lonely customs checkpoint. Its guardhouse and gate are the only signs of an internal fiscal border within Italy, one that encircles the snow-blanketed valley and the duty-free status it has enjoyed for centuries.
The tax exemption that makes Livigno a shoppers' paradise, paradoxically, has left it not receiving the full economic bonus from hosting the Olympics, at least in the short term. On the contrary, shopkeepers are getting squeezed — even if hotels and restaurants are packed and cashing in. Still, everyone is hopeful the Games will yield a longer-term upside for the village.
