“There are things that cannot be bought, for everything else there is…”. Here is the phrase made famous by a famous commercial. In the story of Mustafa Ugurlu and his wife Nazmiye the two things are united. The satisfaction of a fulfilled dream, of redemption, of an intimate joy and the need to realize it, at the same time, also a path of economic growth.
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In search of a better life
It was 2000 when the couple, with their firstborn who had not yet blown out the first candle, arrived in Tuscany. Specifically in the Rosignano district of Vada. Refugees, without documents, in search of a better life.
“And of a country where there was democracy and no differences of race or religion,” says Mustafa quoting, perhaps unconsciously, article 3 of the Italian Constitution. The story of the young spouses is linked to one of the less well-known and more brutal events: the non-recognition of the Kurdish people.
Mustafa and Nazmiye come from the city of Mardin (Turkish Kurdistan), a magical place that overlooks the Mesopotamian plain which still carries in its narrow yellow stone streets the symbol of different religions and their peaceful coexistence with its madrasas, mosques, churches, and monasteries. A lush meeting place, between the Tigris and the Euphrates, as everyone learned from the first history books.
They come, Mustafa says, from a well-off family, but both had the dream of being free, of being able to develop their businesses, of not having that “label” that always made them something different from others. They wanted for themselves and their family (in the meantime they had two more children) the possibility to realize themselves. A legitimate desire shared by many men and women who set out, who cross seas, who desperately pursue the dangerous and tortuous path of redemption. Many succeed. Sacrifices in this country of ours are still often recognized.
Arrival in Cecina
“When we arrived in Cecina, by car, after crossing the sea on a wreck, we were hosted, while waiting for the documents, in a Reception Center. We had relatives here and for this reason we decided to come to Tuscany, on the Etruscan Coast. But we were without a roof. We were given a place to sleep and food for a year, while waiting for the recognition of political asylum and therefore the documents.”
For them that room, in a center shared with other families, overlooking the Aurelia was their world. A window, the view of what would become their life in the years to come.
Today, that window and the entire real estate complex belong to them: they bought it, not without sacrifices and difficulties and also a good dose of luck.
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The former reception center becomes a venue
“The property had been abandoned over the years – the man recounts – and my wife and I, who in the meantime had opened a kebab shop in Cecina, in Piazza della Stazione, which we still have along with two other venues in Marina, every time we passed by, we looked at it. Over the years, without a day off, we had managed to invest in other venues. But we could not pass in front of the Reception Center without feeling that sense of regret: they had hosted us there. And now it was all abandoned there.”
Mustafa tells of having bought shops, created kebab and sandwich venues, started them and sold them. In Rosignano, Grosseto, Piombino, even in Civitavecchia. “In the Italian province this type of sandwich was not yet frequently found when I started and we had learned to choose the right places, to understand in which places kebab would become a quick and ideal snack. But the money we had was not enough to buy the Reception Center. Then in 2020 we decided that we had to try, that it was right. That property had to become the symbol of what had been a rebirth for us. Buying it and making it a lively place was a sign of gratitude towards Italy.”
The man tells of a pilgrimage from one bank to another, to ask for a mortgage that did not seem possible. “To commit myself – he adds – and be sure that I would not be the first to give up, I had given a high down payment to the owners. I had to ask for an extension because I could not get the financial coverage. Then suddenly, when I was ready to lose what I had given, the director of a bank, Banca Centro, listened to my story and told me: ‘We’ll try.’ I believe she consulted with her superiors and we got that mortgage. And paid the first years. But everything had to be renovated. We found partners, two Kurdish friends, because it was clear that alone we would never have succeeded.”
“Everyone we met during the renovation of the property, 280 square meters, was fascinated by the story of redemption that that place represents. Professionals, bricklayers, suppliers. Everyone helped us enthusiastically,” Mustafa says.
The inauguration
Today that former Reception Center is inaugurated. A DJ will come, a party has been organized. It is called “Kpc”: it has become a bistro, a pizzeria, a guesthouse, a grill and a self-service. There is also a garden with games for the little ones. “It is like a rest stop but near the sea: a place where anyone who wants can stop and find various opportunities to spend some time. Where our room was in the Reception Center, there is still a room now, that of the B&B. The window is still there. I believe my wife and I will inaugurate it.”
Mustafa always thinks that when he lived in his country he could not speak his language: Kurdish. Today, when he wants, he can. “I believe we all have to throw our hearts beyond the obstacle to fulfill our dreams,” he concludes. Is there a similar phrase in Kurdish? Mustafa does not know how to answer. He tries some translations. Then he finds a word: mirad. It means desire, will or hope-dream. For Mustafa and his wife the translation is “fulfilled”.
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