ROME – Holidays in Italy? It’s possible. Just have the “green pass”, a sort of anti-Covid passport that will allow people (residents in Europe) to enter the beautiful country and travel far and wide.

The certificate, whose full name is “national green pass”, will be operational from May 16 and, in fact, will anticipate the already announced European pass: to announce the novelty, aimed at relaunching tourism in Italy by attracting above all visitors from abroad, it was the Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, today, at the end of the G20 on tourism.

“Pending the European certificate that we hope will come as soon as possible – said Draghi -, the Italian government has introduced a national pass that will allow people to move freely between the Regions and which will come into force from the second half of May. So we are not waiting for the second half of June for the European pass but from the second half of May tourists will be able to have the Italian one “.

Currently, to enter Italy from European Union countries it is necessary to comply with the ordinance that imposes an antigenic or molecular swab with negative results carried out 48 hours before boarding, a 5-day quarantine and then a second swab at the end of the five days of isolation. Tourists, or Italians residing in the EU, must also complete a self-certification before departure and notify the competent local health authority of their entry into Italy. The order in question, however, will expire on May 15 and will not be extended.

So, starting from May 16, those who want to come to Italy from a country of the Union will no longer have to do the quarantine but respect and demonstrate one of the three conditions to be entitled to the “National green pass”: make an antigenic or molecular swab within 48 from departure or be vaccinated with all the doses provided by a serum recognized in Italy (2 in the case of Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca, one in the case of Johnson & Johnson) or be cured of Covid-19 after contracting it.

On the other hand, Italians who want to go abroad to EU countries will still have to comply with the rules of destination and holiday destinations. Only when the “European green pass” comes into force will the principle of reciprocity apply. The presumed date is that of June 15th. Some aspects that concern the more or less tight meshes of the countries themselves with regard to travel need to be filed.

For the entry into Italy of those coming from non-European countries or for travel outside the European borders, however, there are still no indications different from the current ones (available on the government website https://infocovid.viaggiaresicuri.it/).

“The time has come to book your holidays in Italy”, concluded Draghi, virtually addressing tourists. “And of course we can’t wait to welcome you again”.

Here is the video of the press conference by Prime Minister Mario Draghi, in English and – later – in Italian, with the announcement of the “green pass” for holidays in Italy