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COVID-19

TIMELINE: How Italy’s coronavirus rules get stricter towards Christmas

Restrictions on travel to and within Italy will change several times over the next month. Here's what to expect.

Published: 4 December 2020 11:46 CET
Updated: 22 December 2020 11:24 CET
TIMELINE: How Italy's coronavirus rules get stricter towards Christmas
Italy's restrictions will get stricter over the Christmas holidays. Photo: Vincenzo Pinto/AFP

Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte signed off on the latest emergency decree on Thursday night, and it comes into effect on Friday, December 4th, until January 15th.

READ MORE: Italian PM announces Christmas travel restrictions under new emergency decree

But many of the rules, particularly on travel to and within Italy, will not apply for that entire period.

Restrictions tighten as we get closer to Christmas, before being relaxed again in the new year.

The measures are aimed at discouraging travel, parties and gatherings as the government fears holiday celebrations may spark a new wave of coronavirus infections.

To make the rules easier to follow, here's a list of which restrictions change on which dates.

From December 4th: 

The Italian government has extended existing restrictions on movement to and within the country, including the tiered system of restrictions and the 10pm-5am evening curfew introduced last month.

Non-essential travel remains restricted to, from and within red and orange zones – though ministers have repeatedly said they expect most areas to be downgraded to lower-risk yellow zones by mid-December.

As of December 13th, no region was classified red and only four regions, plus the autonomous province of Bolzano (Alto Adige/South Tyrol), were orange.

Find out what zone you're in using our map.

Most restrictions will stay in place until at least January 15th, when the new emergency decree expires.

Until December 9th, the rules on travelling to Italy from abroad also remain the same.

Until the 9th, under a extension to current rules, only travellers from Belgium, France, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Romania, Spain and the UK have to get tested, or face quarantine. (According to the new decree, tests should be carried out before travelling.)

From December 10th-20th: all travellers from the EU, Schengen Zone or the UK must get tested before departure, or face quarantine. 

This includes Italian residents returning to Italy from other EU countries.

See more details on the new testing rules in a separate article here.

Arrivals to Italy from non-EU/Schengen countries between December 10th-20th will be subject to a two-week quarantine.

From December 21st to January 6th:
 
All travellers arriving in Italy, including from EU countries, must undertake a two-week quarantine.
 
Cruises are also banned from stopping in or departing from Italy during this period.
 
Travel is also restricted within Italy. No “non-essential” travel is allowed between regions, regardless of their colour under the tiered system.
 
On December 25th and 26th and January 1st non-essential travel is banned between towns or comuni across the country.
 
On New Year's Eve, December 31st, the evening curfew will remain in place and will be extended until 7am (rather than 5am) on New Year's Day.
 
From January 7th-15th all travellers from the EU, Schengen Zone or the UK must get tested before departure, or face quarantine.
 
Italian ministers say Italy will start to “reopen” from January 7th.

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TRAVEL NEWS

How is Italy’s national public transport strike affecting travel on Friday?

Passengers in cities around Italy, including Rome, Milan and Florence, faced delays and cancellations on Friday, September 20th, as local public transport staff staged a 24-hour nationwide walkout.

Published: 18 September 2024 09:45 CEST
Updated: 20 September 2024 08:31 CEST
How is Italy's national public transport strike affecting travel on Friday?

The walkout was set to affect all types of local public transport, from surface services (buses, trams, commuter trains and ferries) to underground metro lines, but wasn’t expected to impact long-distance rail services and taxis.

As it’s often the case with public transport strikes in Italy, the level of disruption faced by passengers was expected to vary from city to city depending on the number of transport workers participating in the protest.

According to Italian media reports, commuters in major cities, including Rome, Milan, Florence and Venice, were all likely to experience at least some level of disruption on Friday, though the strike may also have an impact in smaller cities and towns.

READ ALSO: The transport strikes to expect in Italy in autumn 2024

The protest was called in late June by some of Italy’s largest transport unions to protest against employers’ “unwillingness to open a dialogue on the issues raised by workers” including “a monthly salary increase of 300 euros [and] a reduction of working hours from 39 to 35 per week”.

Guaranteed services

Under national strike laws, public transport companies are required to guarantee the operation of a number of essential services (servizi minimi) during walkouts.

The exact times vary by operator, but usually coincide with peak travel hours.

Milan’s public transport operator ATM said that the strike may affect its trams, buses and metro lines from 8.45am to 3pm, and then from 6pm until end of service.

Services scheduled outside of the above windows were expected to operate as normal.

Rome’s major public transport operator ATAC said in a statement that services scheduled before 8.30am and from 5pm to 8pm would go ahead as normal. 

Venice’s public transport operator ACTV published a list of all the water network services that were guaranteed to go ahead on Friday. The list is available here (in Italian).  

Florence’s bus operator Autolinee Toscane said it will guarantee services scheduled from 4.15am to 8.14am, and then from 12.30pm to 14.29pm.

Gest, which operates a number of tram lines in Florence, said that services will be guaranteed in the following time slots: from 6.30am to 9.30 am, and from 5pm to 8pm.

In Naples, public transport operator EAV published a list of guaranteed services for each of their lines. See their website for further information. 

Tper, which operates buses in the northeastern Emilia Romagna region, said it will guarantee the operation of services scheduled before 8.30am and from 4.30pm to 7.30pm. Services in the provinces of Ravenna, Forli’-Cesena and Rimini were set to go ahead as normal after the areas were hit by severe flooding on Wednesday, unions said. 

Palermo’s public transport operator Amat warned that its bus and tram lines may be affected by “potential cancellations and disruption” from 8.30am to 5.30pm, and from 8.30pm to midnight.

For details on guaranteed services in other cities around the country, passengers were advised to check the relevant transport company’s website or social media accounts.

Anyone planning to travel by public transport in Italy on Friday was advised to leave extra time for their journey and check the status of local services with the relevant operator before setting off.

Keep up with the latest updates in The Local’s strike news section.

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