The town is a geographic rarity known as an enclave – a territory completely surrounded by another territory. It’s also an exclave, a closely related term describing a portion of a territory separated from its main part by another territory. While it’s less than a mile hike to the Italian border through the wooded hillside above town, it’s a 40-minute drive to Como, the Italian region’s governmental centre.

Residents are accustomed to their quirky status, which stretches back more than a millennium. Under a long-established agreement between the two countries, they worked in the Swiss customs territory, paid bills with Swiss francs and were served by Italian police that drove Swiss-licenced cars. Municipal services, from rubbish collection to education, were supplied by Switzerland. The town of just more than a square mile attracted tourists from the Swiss city of Lugano on the opposite side of the lake, who were drawn by its most notable landmark, Europe’s oldest and biggest casino, Casino d’Campione.

But two years ago, the gaming house declared bankruptcy, throwing nearly 500 employees out of work in a town of just 2,000 residents. Empty storefronts now line its main street, and the cash-strapped town has closed its kindergarten and cut city services. Pensioners saw their monthly stipend slashed, forcing some to turn to food banks for groceries.

Then on the first day of 2020, Campione was forced to re-join the Italian economy and thus the EU, a move initiated four years ago by government leaders in Rome. The move has been called a “Brexit al contrario” (reverse Brexit) by the head of the local citizen’s committee opposing the change.

Finally, came the coronavirus, which has further complicated daily life. The Lugano municipal bus, which used to circle through the town several times a day to serve commuters, shoppers and tourists, can no longer enter Italy due to the country’s strict quarantine travel restrictions. So now residents must walk to the border to catch a ride.

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Despite all these disruptions, one factor minimises the sting. The village has a prime lakefront location in the middle of a region world-famous for its beauty and glamour. Bernard Fournier, a chef who owns Da Candida, Campione’s Michelin-starred restaurant, remembers his first visit felt like he was in the French Riviera. “It reminded me of Saint-Tropez.”

Indeed, residents say there’s a different feeling to Campione.

“It’s the best of both worlds,” said Frances Coates, who was raised near Manchester, England, but moved here with her Italian husband 20 years ago. Now widowed, the former teacher works as a sanitation worker. She says she loves her adopted hometown, which balances Swiss order with Italian verve. “People are a bit gossipy and complaining, but with a sense of humour. Above all, there’s a certain cuore, the Italian heart.”