Vacallo is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.

Like nearby Chiasso, Vacallo was formerly a suburb of Como, until, along with the rest of Ticino it was then annexed from Italian cities in the 15th century by various Swiss forces in the last transalpine campaigns of the Old Swiss Confederacy.

In the Helvetic Republic, established 1798, it formed part of the canton of Lugano.

Due to its proximity with the Italian border, Vacallo had visitors in exile from nearby Italy like Puccini.

However, it was a tense place to be during World War II but since then has turned into a sleepy suburb of Chiasso.

In 2007, the three mayors of Chiasso, Vacallo and Morbio Inferiore decided to unite into one commune.

In return for losing independence, the commune would have gained access to more services, such as retirement homes in the surrounding areas.

Vacallo has an area, as of 1997[update], of 1.61 square kilometers (0.62 sq mi).

[3] The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules an inverted chevron throughout argent between three bunches of grapes or.

[4] Each bunch of grapes symbolises the three parishes or 'frazione' of the commune, including San Simone and Roggiana and Pizzamiglio.

[7] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks Italian language (2,564 or 93.0%), with German being second most common (113 or 4.1%) and French being third (42 or 1.5%).

[6] The age distribution, as of 2009[update], in Vacallo is; 252 children or 8.4% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 306 teenagers or 10.2% are between 10 and 19.

[7] The historical population is given in the following chart:[11] A plaque commemorates the fact that Giacomo Puccini stayed in Vacallo between 1889 and 1892 and composed the second act of Manon Lescaut here.

Vacallo is also known for its basketball team, which has won multiple national titles.

In the federal election, a total of 996 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 52.3%.

[14] In the 2007[update] Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 1,986 registered voters in Vacallo, of which 1,283 or 64.6% voted.

[7] There were 1,267 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 40.1% of the workforce.

In the tertiary sector; 54 or 26.6% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 12 or 5.9% were in the movement and storage of goods, 19 or 9.4% were in a hotel or restaurant, 6 or 3.0% were the insurance or financial industry, 6 or 3.0% were technical professionals or scientists, 18 or 8.9% were in education and 11 or 5.4% were in health care.

[18] From the 2000 census[update], 2,400 or 87.0% were Roman Catholic, while 100 or 3.6% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

In the lower secondary school system, students either attend a two-year middle school followed by a two-year pre-apprenticeship or they attend a four-year program to prepare for higher education.

The professional program lasts three years and prepares a student for a job in engineering, nursing, computer science, business, tourism and similar fields.