Italy can revise curfew on May 16, says FM

Rome: Italian government under rising pressure to push back or scrap curfew as Italy opens up to foreign tourists.

Italy could revise its nationwide covid curfew on May 16, according to the country’s foreign minister Luigi Di Maio.

Italy’s nightly curfew of 22.00 is under increasing attack from those in the hospitality sector and the government is facing pressure to put it back to midnight or get rid of it completely.

The curfew is also causing rising friction among the government’s coalition parties, with the centre-right pushing for it to be scrapped entirely, while regional authorities are seeking for it to be scaled back to 23.00 at least, reports Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano.

Identifying 16 May as a “desirable date,” Di Maio told Italian television channel La7 that “everyone wants to get out of this nightmare” but warned that it “won’t be a free for all.”

Di Maio said he is working, together with the health and tourism ministers, “to let foreign tourists” come to Italy this summer, reports Italian news agency ANSA.

The date of 16 May comes the day after Italy will allow foreign tourists to visit, giving a ‘green’ national travel pass to those who have been vaccinated, have just tested negative or can prove they have recently recovered from covid-19.

Earlier this week Italian premier Mario Draghi said: “The time has come to book your holidays in Italy,” adding: “Our mountains, our beaches, our cities are reopening.”

Tourism minister Massimo Garavaglia followed up Draghi’s comments two days later saying that the travel pass would be “valid for everyone” and making particular reference to visitors from the US and UK.