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No more passeggiata: Florence limits evening walks in city centre ‘to stop virus spread’

In new rules aimed at preventing crowds from descending on Florence, local authorities have effectively banned visitors from walking around popular parts of the city centre on weekend evenings - unless they buy something to eat or drink.

Published: 2 July 2021 19:33 CEST

No more passeggiata: Florence limits evening walks in city centre ‘to stop virus spread’

Photo: Vincenzo Pinto/AFP

The “anti-gathering” ordinance, in place from June 25th, means new limits on the sale and consumption of takeaway alcoholic drinks in the historic centre of Florence and a ban on parking in six areas considered at risk of attracting large crowds on weekends.

The municipality stated that the rules were put in place to prevent coronavirus infections from spreading in crowded areas.

Many Italian cities have introduced bans on drinking and even eating in the streets, among other rules intended to protect “public decorum” – often in a bid to curb the unruly behaviour of tourists.

At first glance, the new ordinance appears to simply be an extension of previous limits on eating and drinking in certain public areas within the historic centre.

But on closer inspection, the new rules also mean that entering certain parts of the city is banned altogether on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights between 6pm and 11pm, unless you’re a local resident or a customer of bars and restaurants in the area.

The ordinance restricts access to large parts of the city, including the popular areas of Piazza Santo Spirito, Piazza Strozzi, Santa Croce, and Piazza S.S. Annunziata.

This means that taking an evening walk, or passeggiata – an important feature of everyday life in Italy – will not be allowed unless you’re also buying food or drink in the area.

Florentine newspaper L’Arno reported that municipal police would be asking people to show receipts to prove they had been eating or drinking in the restricted areas.

The rules are backed up with potential fines of between €400 and €1,000.

Italian food and drink blog Dissappore wrote: “Bar and restaurant receipts have become the new pass needed to get around the centre.”

It added: “Do we really want eating and drinking to become the only key to accessing the cities of art, to the world, to life?”

Florence councilor Benedetta Albanese stated that the rules were put in place “for the livability of our streets and squares”.

The local rule will stay in place until the state of emergency ends in Italy.

This is currently set to be July 31st, though it is widely expected to be extended once again.

Most of the nationwide coronavirus measures have been dropped in Italy as of June 28th, as every region was declared a low-risk ‘white’ zone.

The nationwide midnight curfew, also intended to prevent gatherings, was scrapped on June 21st.

However, regional and municipal authorities are free to enforce their own rules in addition to those imposed by the national government.

Member comments

Anonymous - 4 July 2021 at 17:55 CEST

How are these rules enforced? Also, how are any of the quarantine rules enforced? Do the authorities visit your flat? Do you get phoned?
1. Anonymous - 4 July 2021 at 18:15 CEST
  
  They are enforced by big brother.
2. Clare at The Local - 5 July 2021 at 09:19 CEST
  
  Hi, rules like this would would be enforced by the municipal police on the street in Florence. We don’t know how strict they’re being in this case, but Italian police generally do carry out a lot of checks (and hand out plenty of fines!)
  
  Quarantine rules are enforced by the regional health authorities, and yes, they can phone or visit, depending on how high risk they judge you/the country you travelled from to be. More info about that here: https://www.thelocal.it/20210623/italy-new-quarantine-rules-uk-travel/
  
  Thanks for reading,
  – Clare
3. Anonymous - 5 July 2021 at 21:04 CEST
  
  The Spanish steps is in Rome, they are talking about florence. Do you know if Rome is doing the same? I will be in florence and Rome next week.
Anonymous - 4 July 2021 at 18:13 CEST

What if you have a hotel on one of the squares? I can understand making the Spanish Steps off limits, as much as it pains me, but this is stupid. To “stop the spread,” right, well why now when it isn’t really spreading like it has been for the last year and a half? Is this going to go away after covid?
1. Anonymous - 4 July 2021 at 18:20 CEST
  
  …this might be more about the football. My suspicion was that the 5 day quarantine from UK was to stop thousands of England football fans from coming to Rome yesterday
Anonymous - 4 July 2021 at 18:19 CEST

haha, thanks Brad…but really? anyone know what ‘they’ do?

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Ice to AC: Nine of the most common American misconceptions about Italy

It’s no secret that Americans love to visit Italy; the Washington Post predicted in December that the country would be Americans’ top foreign tourist destination for 2023, and the volume of US visitors who’ve arrived in Italy since then appears to have borne this out.

But while many Americans have a deep knowledge of – and love for – Italian culture, there are some surprisingly enduring myths about Italy that can be found in the USA specifically.

Some come close to the truth, while others fall wide of the mark.

There is no ice in Europe/Italian restaurants charge for ice

Fiction – Americans love ice, beverages are routinely served with it and refrigerators in the US often have some type of ice dispenser attached to the door.

But in Italy, ice is simply less prioritised. While ice in your drink will usually not cost you extra, you might need to specifically request it. Soft drinks in Italy are usually served without ice, so if you want your beverage iced, you need to request the drink con ghiaccio – with ice.

A classic Italian spritz should always come with ice. Photo by Tomasz Rynkiewicz on Unsplash

Italian homes don’t have dryers

Fact (mostly) – Tumble dryers do exist in Italy, but they’re rare. A survey published by Italy’s national statistics office (Istat) in 2014 found that just 3.3 percent of Italian households had one, whereas 96.2 percent had a washing machine and 39.3 percent a dishwasher.

Those washing lines strung with laundry hanging above the heads of passers by aren’t there just to create a quaint backdrop for photos – people make wide use of the abundant sun to air dry their clothes and sheets.

That does not mean that Italians in cities don’t occasionally use clothes dryers though if they’re in a rush; some might take items to a nearby laundromat.

McDonald’s is healthier in Italy

Fact (sort of) – McDonald’s uses different ingredients based on the country, and the Big Mac in Italy is (slightly) healthier than the one sold in the United States. It is slightly less calorific, with 509 kCal in contrast to the American Big Mac’s 540 kCal per 100g.

The Italian Big Mac also has less salt and fat, but it does not compare to the world’s healthiest Big Mac (found in Israel).

McDonald’s in Italy also uses EU-sourced ingredients, and the EU restricts the usage of additives and growth hormones. For example Azodicarbonamide which is used to bleach flour, is banned in the EU, but not in the United States, where McDonald’s was still using it as of 2016.

It is true, however, that you can buy beer in McDonald’s in Italy.

McDonald’s burgers are marginally healthy in Italy compared to the US. Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Italians drive small cars

Fiction (increasingly) – Think of Italian cars, and you might picture a classic Fiat 500 puttering around picturesque cobbled streets – but that’s all changing.

2021 was a historic year for the Italian automotive industry: the sale of SUVs surpassed those of medium-sized sedans for the first time, claiming 48 percent of the market share compared to the sedan’s 45 percent.

That may not match the US, where SUVs and pick-up trucks currently account for around 73 percent of vehicles sold, but it’s a huge increase from 2012, when SUVs made up just 17 percent of vehicle sales in Italy.

There are no free public toilets

Fact (mostly) – You will occasionally find an Italian town or city that offers some free public toilets. For the most part though, you’ll have to pay, including in train stations – and even paid public toilets are few and fair between.

Instead, you’re better off heading to one of the many caffe-bars found all over the country and paying for a euro for a bottle of water or a coffee so you can use their facilities – if you ask nicely, you might even be allowed to go for free.

Metro stations, supermarkets and grocery stores tend to not have any toilets at all, and neither will most clothing stores. One place you will find plenty of free public bathrooms, though, is a motorway service station.

Something that strikes many visitors to Italy as odd is the lack of seats on public toilets. Exactly why this is the case is debated, but there’s a general consensus that the phenomenon has rapidly accelerated in the past couple of decades.

A street sign at an antiques fair in Turin. Free toilets in Italy are few and far between. Photo by rashid khreiss on Unsplash

Italy doesn’t have air conditioning

Fact (sort of) – There’s not no air conditioning in Italy – in fact data from Italy’s national statistics office showed that one in two Italian households had AC in 2021.

It’s far less popular than in the US, though, where 90 percent of households have air conditioning. There’s still not much of a culture of AC in Italy, where many believe it will give you a colpo d’aria leading to at best a sore neck and at worst pneumonia – so even households that have a unit tend to use it sparingly.

If your hotel or Airbnb doesn’t specifically mention AC, you can assume it doesn’t have it.

Coca-Cola tastes different in Italy

Fact – While Coke is available almost everywhere in the world, the actual ingredients in Coca-Cola are different in some countries, which could lead some Coke connoisseurs to notice a difference in taste between the products in the US and those in the EU.

The biggest difference is the regular Coke – in the US this uses high fructose corn syrup while in Europe cane sugar is used to sweeten the product, resulting in a significant difference in taste.

You’re much more likely in Italy to come across Coca Zero, the zero-sugar version of Coca-Cola, than Coca-Coca Light, the European version of Diet Coke, which has always been hard to find and which some online sources say Italy stopped distributing altogether in 2022.

Coke in the US: different to its European counterparts. Photo by Cody Engel on Unsplash

You don’t need to tip

Fact – It’s not necessary to tip after a restaurant meal in Italy. However, this is a matter of personal choice and you are free to do so (tipping certainly won’t cause upset).

Diners do often leave some change after a particularly enjoyable meal. In terms of how much to give, some people round up a bill to include a tip, while others give what spare change they have.

Some people may also opt to tip other professionals as well, such as taxi drivers and cleaners, but again – this is optional and typically not a large quantity. In some apartment buildings, residents may give a Christmas card with money inside to the portiere (doorman) as a kind of annual tip.

All cars are stick shift

Mostly fact – In the United States, stick shift vehicles are becoming a thing of the past, but in Italy they are still very much being bought and driven.

As of 2018, around 20 percent of new cars sold in Italy were automatic – which is much higher than the less-than-one percent sold in the 1980s, but still a lot less than the US’s figure of 96 percent.

That said, around 70 percent of SUVs sold in Italy use automatic transition, so with the popularity of these larger vehicles on the rise, you can expect to see more automatics on Italian roads in the future.

What do you think? Have you noticed any other common beliefs or misconceptions about Italy in the US, or elsewhere? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.

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