Italy reopens its doors. The country with the highest number of UNESCO protected assets in the world, together with China, reopens its doors to travelers. The expected “Free All”, however, hides one mockery for Italians living in UK and the British. For them, the doors still remain closed (upon returning). Earlier this week, from the opulent rooms with tapestries, mirrors and gold-laminated furniture of the Italian Embassy in London, the Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio made the announcement of the Green Pass decided by Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
A summit was underway in London ahead of the G7 in Cornwall next month: while at Lancaster House, near Buckingham Palace, the head of the Farnesina was shaking (virtually) the hand of the foreign secretary Dominic Raab, a few hundred meters from Downing Street, the government closed the country to Italy. Britain has recognized The Green Light in just 12 countries in the world: Portugal, Australia, Israel and a few other overseas territories. There is no Italy and not even France, Spain and Greece. For an Italy that reopens, however, the United Kingdom closes and places the orange light on the whole of Europe: test and quarantine obligation.
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In fact, everything remains as it is now for those arriving from Italy to the UK. The premier Boris Johnson he is uncompromising and also plays at being the “sheriff” of Covid: on the strength of the vaccine record and an almost “Covid-Free” country (22 million people already live in areas with no more infections or deaths), his superiority is weighed down. For a million Italians living in the UK, a mockery. The longed-for holidays in Italy are in danger of skipping.
Tests and costs
At the moment, the movements between Italy and the UK are subject to a double quarantine. Anyone departing from the UK must have a negative test before leaving (which costs around £ 100-150 in London), a valid travel reason, a second test on arrival and a quarantine (reduced to 5 days from 14 at the beginning of the year). Those traveling in the opposite direction follow a similar but more complicated and expensive scheme: the British government still requires a test before departure (which is checked by the airline) but here the first obstacle already begins: at the border they are accepted only tests in English. This obliges them to go to private medical centers, which are more difficult to find and more expensive than pharmacies. Upon arrival, travelers must show the Government kit payment receipt, other 2 mandatory tests (on the second and eighth day): they are expensive (around 200 pounds). Once in the country, you have to get in self-isolation for 10 days. It is possible to halve the duration by buying a third test, which costs around 100 pounds. Draghi frees Italy: from 15 May, there will no longer be the obligation to quarantine for those arriving in Italy from the EU. But on January 1, Great Britain left the European Union: it is a non-EU state.
There is a loophole: in the offices of the Italian Embassy it should be remembered that so far all the measures related to Covid taken by Italy towards EU countries have always been automatically extended, on a par, even to the United Kingdom. So if the restrictions for those arriving in Italy from the EU are eased, there is a good chance that the same will be for the United Kingdom. Brexit obstacle solved, then? No because the problem is not so much the (former) restrictions in Italy, where, however, you can already enter without quarantine and testing obligations (with the constraint of 5 days of stay), but the return to the United Kingdom where, due to the orange light, quarantine and costly tests remain in place. IS a tile for the Italians who live in Great Britain and have already booked their return to Italy for holidays; and also for those English who would like to go on vacation to Italy.