CATANIA: Sipping a craft beer on a warm spring evening in Catania, Sicily, Corrado Paterno Castello spares a thought for friends and colleagues he left behind in Milan, 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) north.

"Today, between meetings, I had a swim at the beach," the 29-year-old entrepreneur told AFP, with a beaming smile.

"The quality of life you have here is very different from what you experience up north, and it is priceless."

Workers across the world have taken advantage of enforced home-working during the coronavirus pandemic to move to warmer climes, requiring only a plug for their laptop and a decent internet connection.

But in Italy, where for generations those from the relatively poorer south have sought work in the north, it has been a chance for people like Paterno Castello to go home -- perhaps for good.