The Smuggling and Memory Path

The starting point is the village of Baruffini, a hamlet of Tirano located at the border with Switzerland, to reach the locality of Sasso del Gallo and then continue and return to Baruffini. The route, equipped with signposts and information panels, is about 8.5 kilometers long, with an elevation gain of 450 meters. It is not particularly demanding but requires some training.

To get passionate about stories of smugglers, filled with chases and shootouts, you don't need to go to the cinema or read a novel. Just walk the Smuggling and Memory Path that leads from the hamlet of Baruffini in Tirano to Sasso del Gallo. Until the 1960s, paths and mule tracks cutting through the mountains above Tirano were the scene of trafficking and clashes between "spalloni" (human smugglers) and law enforcement. The former tried to transport goods from the Swiss territory to resell them on the black market while the latter tried to counter this illegal trade.

The Smuggling and Memory Path was created in 2007 thanks to the initiative of some customs officers from the ANFI Section of Tirano and some former smugglers who personally experienced the smuggling phenomenon. It is a project that aims to tell what this illegal activity represented for the local population, over a historical period lasting until the mid-20th century, when many Valtellina families could not live decently. A situation that led many young people to engage in this activity in order to improve their living conditions.