The article investigates the relevance of geographical imagination in refugee politics in the Mediterranean coast. It is based on empirical research conducted in Calabria, southern Italy, in a small village that in 1997 decided to host over 300 refugees that shipwrecked on its coast. By welcoming refugees the village, Badolato, appropriated politics of hospitality to gain new cultural and economic value for the village that was suffering from high unemployment rates and an ageing population. The story, exceptional as it was, soon attracted international media to cover the story of Badolato. The article depicts developments in the village over the course of 14 years and shows the force and changes over time of media publicity in the process. It points out the relevance of media for the process of geographical imagination and the contradictory and complex implications of the process.