Sanremo or San Remo (Sanrému, in the Ligurian dialect) was historically called Villa Matutiæ; it is an Italian town of 56.526 inhabitants in the province of Imperia in the Liguria region. Currently it is the fourth largest Ligurian city by the number of inhabitants, preceded by Genoa, La Spezia and Savona.
Sanremo’s geographical position, on a bay surrounded by mountains, is responsible for its renowned mild weather, and make it a summer and winter resort. Its temperate climate make it the perfect location for a health resort as well.
Sanremo was awarded the Blue Flag in 2006 for the quality of the services offered by its touristic port - Porto Sole.
Sanremo is a tourist resort also famous for its flower production – the annual Flower Festival - Corso Fiorito - with its flower float parade should not be missed. It is therefore also called the City of the Flowers. Every year Sanremo hosts a wide variety of important national and international events: the Milan-Sanremo cycle race (one of the most important cycling events also called the “Spring classic”), the Sanremo Italian Song Festival, and the "Rally Sanremo" (formerly a world championship competition), valid for the Italian car Rally championship. Sanremo is renowned for its casino, one of the four casinos active in Italy. The town is only 24 kilometres from Imperia, the administrative centre of the province and 150 kilometres from Genoa, the principal regional town.
Until a few years ago Sanremo used to host the international fireworks championship also called "Flowers of Fire".
At the end of the seventies a new port was inaugurated in Sanremo; this event consolidated its touristic vocation – tourism represents the town’s major source of income. At the same time, the rise of a new environmental consciousness and the rezoning of some of the more neglected areas put a stop to the excessive building development of the previous years.