The mafiosi of Naples turn white-collar

It is cold enough for the waitress serving in the lane outside to be clad in a puffer jacket. Yet the diners, tourists hardened by northern winters, seem untroubled as they savour their meals. An unexceptional scene. Except that it is past 10pm and the restaurant is in the Quartieri Spagnoli, a gridiron of alleyways in the heart of Naples that, until recently, outsiders entered at their peril. Pickpocketing, mugging and bag-snatching were all common—licensed and exploited by a clan of the Camorra, the Neapolitan mafia.The opening of the Quartieri and other traditionally crime-ridden districts is symptomatic of profound changes in the criminal landscape of the city and its surrounding province. In 2023 there were ten gangland killings, compared with 34 in the 12 months to mid-2013. Attempted murders ascribed to the Camorra fell over the same period from 17 to just four.