Theth is a remote village in Albania previously reserved for adventurous hikers. Now there is a new, paved road that should bring many tourists. This raises great hopes – and fears.
Sitting on the stone bench in front of her house, Prena Pistro has a good view of everything: her vegetable garden, the stone-walled meadow where the cow grazes, tied to a tree with a rope around one leg. And also the gravel road behind the garden, which car owners can now use to comfortably get to their houses – these are the residents here who have discovered tourism as a source of income. Which doesn’t apply to Prena Pistro. She knows a few words of Italian, but she doesn’t rent out. Four of her children live in Italy and send her money. “Look,” she says, pulling a cell phone out of her jacket pocket on which she shows a photo of a young woman with a baby: “My grandchild. I’ve never held it in my arms. The daughter promised they’d come in the fall visit, then we will cry together!”