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QUARANTINE

Do you have to get tested or quarantine if you’re transiting through Italy this Christmas?

Italy has strict rules for people arriving from abroad this Christmas, but do they apply to travellers who are just passing through?

Published: 16 December 2020 15:25 CET
Updated: 18 December 2020 10:40 CET
Do you have to get tested or quarantine if you're transiting through Italy this Christmas?
You should be able to drive through Italy without restrictions, so long as you don't stay longer than 36 hours. Photo: Jure Makovec/AFP

Italy is doing everything short of banning foreign travel outright to discourage people from taking unnecessary trips over the end-of-year holidays, including making all EU travellers get tested 48 hours before arrival until December 20th, and subjecting everyone arriving in Italy from overseas between December 21st and January 6th to a 14-day quarantine. 

(NB: Quarantine applies to anyone who spends part or all of this period outside Italy, including people returning after January 6th. For full details, see here.)

But what if Italy isn't your final destination? 

If you're just passing through on your way to somewhere else, you should be exempt from either entry requirement (testing until December 20th, and quarantine from December 21st onwards): read on for more details.

Travelling by car

The emergency decree currently in effect states that the requirements do not apply to “anyone transiting, by private means, through the Italian territory for a period not exceeding 36 hours” (full text here: see article 8, paragraph 8, section G). 

In other words, if you're driving your own vehicle and plan to spend no more than a day and half in Italy you do not have to get tested or quarantine, regardless of your nationality or where you're entering from.

If you stay in Italy any more than 36 hours, however, you'll have to start quarantining immediately.

READ ALSO: 

Italy will also limit travelling within its borders over the Christmas period, including a ban on non-essential travel between regions from December 21st, and on non-essential travel between towns from December 24th to January 6th (find a calendar here).

If you plan to transit through Italy over the holiday period, check which regions of Italy your route will take you through and the local restrictions in place (find our map here). 

You should be able to justify crossing between regions if you have an essential reason like returning to your country of residence, but it can be hard to predict how individual police officers will interpret the rules if they stop you on the road. Be prepared to show proof of address and any additional evidence you find that your journey is necessary, and don't plan on making any detours to sightsee. 

Travelling by train or coach

The new decree only specifies that people travelling in private vehicles are exempt, which presumably means that passengers on public transport face the same test and/or quarantine requirements as anyone else entering Italy, even if they're just transiting. 

READ ALSO: Switzerland and Italy to suspend cross-border train services indefinitely

Before planning a cross-border journey by train or coach – especially one that involves a connection – check with your travel company whether it will be possible under Italy's current restrictions, which you can find explained here. 


Photo: Johann Groder/APA/AFP

Travelling by plane

For those travelling by plane from any country worldwide and connecting in an Italian airport, you should be allowed to transfer so long as you remain within the airport's boarding areas.

The rules are less clear when it comes to longer layovers that involve you exiting border control: it's not advisable to book self-connecting flights (ones involving two airlines, where you would go exit the arrivals area and pass back through security control to board your second flight) without first checking with both airlines what controls you will face.

Short emergency trips

There are further exemptions to Italy's entry requirements for people making essential trips of 120 hours or less. 

If you're travelling to Italy for “proven needs of work, health or absolute urgency”, the latest decree states (article 8, paragraph 8, section F), you can enter without any obligation to get tested or quarantine so long as you leave within five days. Staying any longer will oblige you to quarantine.

That applies to people of all nationalities, wherever they're travelling from. 

Other exceptions

Healthcare workers, diplomats, people in the emergency services, cross-border workers, transport staff and students who regularly cross the border to attend class are also exempt from testing and quarantine requirements: find more details on the Health Ministry's website (be aware that the English version is not updated as frequently as the Italian).

Find all The Local's latest travel updates here. 

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EES PASSPORT CHECKS

EES border checks could undergo ‘soft launch’, UK says as app concerns mount

The UK government is preparing for a "soft launch" of the new EU border system – the Entry/Exit (EES) system - in October but authorities are still waiting for European Commission to confirm the start date, amid concerns over the delay of a new app.

Published: 4 May 2024 09:30 CEST
EES border checks could undergo 'soft launch', UK says as app concerns mount

The UK government is preparing for a soft launch of the new EU border system – the entry/exit (EES) system – on the assumption that it will go live on October 6th, ministers told a hearing at the House of Commons European scrutiny committee this week.

But the European Commission is expected to confirm the exact launch date of the new biometric checks for non-EU travellers entering the Schengen area at some point this summer, they added.

“We are very much working on a basis whereby this policy will go live on the 6th of October. It is important that we plan for that eventuality. We are expecting to hear definitively from the European Union that ‘go live’ arrangement in the summer,” Tom Pursglove, UK Minister for Legal Migration and the Border told the committee.

The parliamentary committee is conducting an inquiry on the disruptions the system will cause in the UK.

Pursglove also said that “precautionary measures” have been agreed by the EU, that will be put in place in certain circumstances after the start of EES, for example if delays at the borders exceeded a certain length of time.

Guy Opperman, Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport, said that in practice this meant a “soft launch” of EES for 6 months before “a full go live”. During that soft launch EU member states and the UK could deploy flexibility measures should problems occur.

“The likelihood is, after multiple delays, that the 6th of October will proceed” and the implementation looks “very different” compared to previous scenarios considering the flexibility allowed in the first 6 months, he argued.

No details were given on what these “flexible” measures would involve however. 

READ ALSO: Your questions answered about Europe’s EES passport checks

He conceded that “a lot of work” still needs to be done but the UK “should be as ready as everybody” and “better be at front of the queue”.

App not ready

During the meeting, it also emerged that a much-anticipated app that would allow remote pre-registration of non-EU citizens subject to the checks will not be available for testing until August “at best”, prompting concerns about the EES launch date.

“You don’t need to be a sceptic about future projects to think that the provision of the app in August for going live in October is optimistic,” Opperman said.

Ministers confirmed that the app will not be ready in time for October and the committee previously stated it might be delayed until summer 2025.

The app will facilitate pre-registration, but photo and fingerprints will still have to be taken at the border in front of a guard, the committee heard.

READ ALSO: How do the EU’s new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

Several MPs asked whether the entry into operation of the EES should be delayed again if technology is not ready. But Under-Secretary Opperman said the app “is not going to be a panacea to fix all problems”.

The main aim of EES is to increase security and to ensure that non-EU nationals visiting the Schengen area for a short-term do not stay more than 90 days in any 180-day period.

The entry into operation of the system has already been delayed several times and there have been calls from certain travel companies and national authorities to delay it again.

Under the new scheme, non-EU/EFTA travellers who do not need a visa will have to register their biometric data (finger prints and facial images) in a database that will also record each time they enter and exit the Schengen area.

Instead of having passports manually stamped, travellers will have to scan them at self-service kiosks before crossing the border. However, fingerprints and a photo will have to be registered in front of a guard at the first crossing and there are concerns the extra time needed will generate long queues, especially in Dover, Folkestone and St. Pancras station in London, where there are juxtaposed French and UK border checks.

Progress in preparations

Minister Pursglove also updated MPs on ongoing preparations. He said some testing of the system will take place within days, 5 kiosks have been installed at St. Pancras station and are available for testing. “You are beginning to see the physical infrastructure appear,” he said.

Kiosks and extra lanes are also being created at the port Dover and it was agreed with the EU passengers travelling by coach will be checked away from the Eastern dock, where controls usually take place, allowing to gain space. The vehicles will then sealed and drive on the ferries.

MPs also discussed the infrastructure cost linked to the introduction of the EES. Opperman said all EU countries will have to make “huge investments” in their ports. In the UK, he argued, this will help “address problems that have existed for some time”. Because of this “massive investment”, in a few years time “Dover will be totally transformed,” he said.

This article is published in cooperation with Europe Street News.

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