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‘IT-Alert’: How Italy will warn you of nearby emergencies via text

A new alert system set up to warn people of potential emergencies in their area is now being tested across Italy. But how exactly will it work once operative?

Published: 29 June 2023 10:09 CEST
Updated: 27 September 2023 11:10 CEST
'IT-Alert': How Italy will warn you of nearby emergencies via text
A example of an alert message sent by Italy's new mobile warning system. Image courtesy of IT-Alert.

People in Milan, Rome, Venice and other cities will get a text message from the government in the coming weeks as Italy continues the test of its new nationwide alert system.

How will the new system work?

Many countries around Europe have introduced text-message alert systems recently and now Italy will follow suit with ‘IT-alert’, which will operate in much the same way as the systems in place in France, Spain and Germany, for example. 

In the case of “ongoing or imminent emergencies or catastrophic events”, the system will “send all mobile phones in a specific geographic area a public alert via text”, according to IT-Alert’s website.

The website stated that mobile phones will emit a “prolonged” alert tone upon receiving the text. The tone will be “well distinguishable and different from usual ringtones”.

Phones will not receive alert messages “if they are turned off or without reception” and may not make a noise if on silent or set to vibrate.

The system will not require people to subscribe to notification services nor to download any apps.

“Every mobile device connected to the mobile operators’ networks, if turned on, can receive an “IT-alert” message,” the website explains.

The alerts are not necessarily sent to everyone in a region or city, but can be sent within a small area “that corresponds as closely as possible to that affected by the emergency.”

Man looking at mobile phone

Once operative, IT-alert will warn people in a specific area of ongoing or imminent dangers via text message. Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP

The text message, written both in Italian and English, will include information about the incident as well as any “self-protection measures to be adopted immediately”.

When will it be tested?

Testing is being done gradually by region.The remaining areas set to test the system in the coming weeks:

  • September 19th in Basilicata, Lombardy and Molise
  • September 21st in Valle d’Aosta and Veneto
  • September 26th in Abruzzo and in the Autonomous Province of Trento
  • September 27th in Lazio and Liguria
  • October 13th in the Autonomous Province of Bolzano

Tests are expected to be completed by the end of 2023, with the system then expected to be implemented at a national level at some point in 2024. 

What will it be used for?

IT-alert will be used to notify people of serious emergencies or natural disasters unfolding or about to take place in their area. 

According to its official website, the system will be used in the case of: 

  • Tsunamis
  • Volcanic activity
  • Nuclear incidents
  • Incidents involving dangerous or life-threatening substances
  • Extreme weather events

Who will operate the alert system?

In its current trial phase, IT-alert is being operated by Italy’s civil protection agency.

Once up and running on a national scale however, police forces, local fire departments and other emergency services will also be able to send out alerts to the public.  

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LIVING IN ITALY

Why isn’t Pentecost Monday a public holiday in Italy?

Italy is known for being a particularly religious country, so why isn't Pentecost Monday a public holiday here?

Published: 17 May 2024 14:21 CEST
Why isn’t Pentecost Monday a public holiday in Italy?

May 20th will mark Pentecost Monday (or Lunedì di Pentecoste in Italian) – an important observance in the Christian calendar which commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus’s disciples.

Pentecost Monday is a movable feast (or festa mobile) in the Christian liturgical calendar, meaning that its date changes each year depending on when Easter is celebrated: Pentecost – which marks the exact day the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples – falls on the seventh Sunday after Easter, with Pentecost Monday following right after.

But while Pentecost Monday (also known as Whit Monday elsewhere) is a public holiday and therefore a non-working day in a number of European countries, including Austria, Germany, France, Spain and Switzerland, Italy – a country known for being overwhelmingly Catholic – doesn’t consider the date a festa nazionale.

But why is that so?

Pentecost Monday was long a public holiday in Italy. In fact, the Tuesday following Pentecost Sunday was also a national holiday up until the late 18th century. 

But in 1977 the Italian government then led by Giulio Andreotti removed Pentecost Monday along with four other Catholic-related feasts (these included St Joseph’s Day on March 19th and the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul on June 29th) from its list of public holidays. 

The official reason behind the change was to speed up public administration work and increase businesses’ productivity as the Italian calendar had featured nearly 20 different national holidays up to that point.

It could be argued however that a nationwide shift towards secularism in the second half of the 20th century also played a non-negligible role in the change.

That said, a number of political parties and Catholic associations have asked for the holiday to be restored over the years, with a proposal backed by the League party and centre-left Democrazia Solidale making it all the way to parliament in 2016 but being ultimately scrapped. 

Pentecost Monday isn’t the only important date on the Christian calendar not marked with a public holiday in Italy. 

READ ALSO: How to make the most of Italy’s public holidays in 2024

Good Friday may be a holiday elsewhere in Europe, but not in Italy, where it’s seen as a day of mourning. Ascension Day, which marks the day Jesus ascended into heaven and falls on the sixth Thursday after Easter every year, is also not a public holiday in the country.

Curiously, while Pentecost Monday is not a public holiday on the Italian calendar, there is one area of the country where the observance does grant residents a day off: South Tyrol (or Alto Adige), in northern Italy.

South Tyrol, which includes the city of Bolzano, is an autonomous Italian province, meaning that local authorities have the freedom to decide on a number of economic, political and civil matters, including the local holiday calendar. 

If you’re one of South Tyrol’s 530,000 residents, you will enjoy a three-day weekend this week.

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