In Pagliara dei Marsi, an ancient rural village on the slopes of Mount Girifalco in Italy’s Abruzzo region, cats vastly outnumber people. They weave through the narrow streets, wander in and out of homes, and stretch out on walls overlooking the mountains. Their purrs are a constant hum in the quiet that has settled over decades of population decline.
But that quiet has lessened since March, when joyous celebrations marked a rare event: the birth of a child. Lara Bussi Trabucco is the first baby born in Pagliara dei Marsi in almost 30 years, bringing the village’s population to roughly 20.
Her christening in the church opposite her home was attended by the entire community—including the cats. The novelty of having a baby in the village is such that she has now become the main tourist attraction.
“People who didn’t even know Pagliara dei Marsi existed have come, only because they had heard about Lara,” said her mother, Cinzia Trabucco. “At just nine months old, she’s famous.”
Lara’s arrival is a symbol of hope, but also a sobering reminder of Italy’s worsening demographic crisis. In 2024, births in the country reached a historic low of 369,944, continuing a 16-year decline, according to figures from Istat, the national statistics agency. The fertility rate also fell to a record low, with an average of 1.18 children born to women of child-bearing age in 2024—one of the lowest rates in the EU.
Reasons for the decline are many, from job insecurity and a huge wave of youth emigration to inadequate support for working mothers and, as in other countries, a rise in male infertility. Furthermore, an increasing number of people are simply choosing not to have children.
Istat’s preliminary data for the first seven months of 2025 points to a further decrease. Of Italy’s 20 administrative regions, nowhere has the drop been more acute than in the already sparsely populated Abruzzo, which saw a 10.2% decline in births between January and July compared with the same period in 2024.
Pagliara dei Marsi is tiny, but it is emblematic of a country-wide landscape increasingly dominated by aging populations and emptying schools. This trend puts pressure on public finances and presents daunting economic and social challenges for leaders at all levels.
“Pagliara dei Marsi has been suffering from drastic depopulation, exacerbated by the loss of many elderly people, without any generational turnover,” said the local mayor, Giuseppina Perozzi.
Perozzi, who lives a few doors away from baby Lara, said she was grateful to Trabucco, 42, and her partner, Paolo Bussi, 56, for starting a family and hopes it will inspire others to do the same.
Their situation is uncommon. Trabucco, a music teacher, was born in Frascati, near Rome, and worked in the Italian capital for years before deciding to move to the village where her grandfather was born. She had always wanted to raise a family far from the chaos of a city. She met Bussi, a construction worker from the area, a few years ago.
The couple benefited from a €1,000 “baby bonus” after Lara’s birth, a one-time payment for each child born or adopted since January 2025. This was introduced by Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government as part of its pledge to tackle what the prime minister has called Italy’s “demographic winter.” They also receive a monthly child benefit payment of about €370.
But their main struggle is…Balancing childcare with work is a constant challenge. Italy’s childcare support system is chronically inadequate, and despite Prime Minister Meloni’s government framing the low birthrate as a battle for national survival, it has yet to deliver on promises to increase the number of nurseries. Many women who get pregnant are forced to leave their jobs and later find it difficult to return.
The region of Abruzzo, where Pagliara dei Marsi is located, saw a 10.2% drop in births in the first seven months of this year.
The couple also worry about Lara’s future education. It has been decades since Pagliara dei Marsi last had a teacher, who used their home as a school. There is an infant and primary school in nearby Castellafiume, but with schools across Italy closing due to the declining birthrate, it’s uncertain whether there will be enough children to keep it open in the long term.
Trabbuco said financial incentives alone are not enough to reverse the trend. “The entire system needs to be revolutionized,” she added. “We’re a country of high taxes, but this doesn’t translate into a good quality of life or good social services.”
About an hour’s drive from Pagliara dei Marsi is Sulmona, a once-thriving city where accelerated depopulation over the past decade has sparked a fight to save the maternity unit at Annunziata Hospital from closure.
Lara’s birth occurred during a historic low in annual births for Italy.
The unit, which serves Sulmona and nearby towns, delivered 120 babies in 2024, far below the 500 required to maintain funding. If it closes, pregnant women would need to travel about an hour to the regional capital, L’Aquila, which could be dangerous in emergencies.
“The region is vast, and especially in winter, travel conditions can be treacherous,” said Gianluca Di Luigi, a gynecologist at the hospital. He recalled a woman in labor who was stuck in a snowstorm for eight hours. “By the time we got her to the hospital, we had to perform an emergency cesarean. This was her first child, and she was traumatized by the whole experience.”
Those fighting to keep the unit open argue that the requirement of 500 births per year, established in 2010, is no longer realistic. “We never did reach the magic 500 here,” said Berta Gambina, a midwife who has worked in the unit for 39 years. “Even in the best of times, we averaged about 380 births a year. But I will do all I can to keep it open—my biggest fear is abandoning pregnant women.”
Ornella La Civita, a city councilor with the center-left Democratic Party, said financial incentives to encourage births are welcome. “But how can you give women money to have babies but not guarantee them a safe and secure place to give birth?”
One often overlooked topic in Italy’s birthrate debate is fertility preservation, said Di Luigi, through methods like egg freezing. “Ideological thinking in Italy has always been a barrier,” he added. “But if we want newborns, then we need enlightenment too—yes, provide young people with dignified jobs, but let’s also start teaching them about preserving fertility.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of FAQs about the heartwarming news story of an Italian village celebrating its first newborn in decades
General Beginner Questions
1 What exactly happened
A small village in Italy named Ostana located in the Piedmont region celebrated the birth of its first baby in 28 years The child a boy named Pablo is a symbol of hope for the community
2 Why is this such a big deal
Many small rural villages across Italy are facing severe population decline and aging A birth after nearly three decades is a rare and joyous event that counters the trend of these communities slowly disappearing
3 Where is Ostana
Ostana is a mountain village in the province of Cuneo in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy Its in the Alps near the French border
4 What did the village do to celebrate
The community came together to welcome the baby They hung a banner that read Welcome Pablo and the local church bells rang out in celebrationa tradition often reserved for major festivals
Deeper Context Causes
5 Why hadnt there been a baby born there for so long
This is due to a combination of factors young people move to cities for education and jobs the cost of living in remote areas can be high there are fewer services and an overall low birth rate in Italy
6 Is this problem unique to this one village
No its a widespread issue Italy has one of the lowest birth rates in the world and hundreds of small comuni especially in mountainous or rural areas are at risk of becoming completely depopulated
7 Whats being done to reverse this trend in places like Ostana
Some villages are offering incentives like cash for babies selling abandoned homes for 1 to attract new residents investing in broadband internet to enable remote work and promoting ecotourism to create local jobs
Implications Looking Forward
8 Does one baby solve the villages population problem
Not on its own but its a crucial symbolic start It proves that life and growth are still possible It can boost morale and attract attention potentially encouraging other young families to consider moving there
