It might not be the Friday night you had planned as the City of Florence has issued a clampdown on drinking in the street with immediate effect.
Following numerous complaints by residents especially in the Santo Spirito area, the revised city legislation will prohibit alcoholic beverages from being sold by shops throughout the historic centre between 8pm and 6am from July 17 to August 31.
The ordinance only really shifts the sale of alcohol forward by an hour as retailers are already prohibited from selling alcohol after 9pm. Transgressors risk fines of up to 500 euro.
Evidence of the night before in piazza Santo Spirito, Florence. Photo @carlstrehlke on IG.
The regulations do not apply to bars, restaurants and pubs, but to mini-markets, supermarkets, shops, tobacconists and to all other businesses who sell but do not serve alcohol. The City of Florence has stated its intention also to clamp down on drinks taken away from bars and restaurants “as soon as possible”.
The ordinance is in effect in the following areas of Florence: piazza Poggi, the weir across the Arno, piazza Piave, viale della Giovine Italia, piazza Beccaria, viale Gramsci, piazzale Donatello, viale Matteotti, piazza della Libertà, viale Lavagnini, viale Strozzi, viale Caduti dei Lager, sottopasso ferroviario, viale Fratelli Rosselli, piazzale di Porta al Prato, viale Fratelli Rosselli, lungarno Santa Rosa, via lungo le Mura di Santa Rosa, piazza Verzaia, porta San Frediano, viale Ariosto, viale Aleardi, piazza Tasso, viale Petrarca, piazzale Porta Romana, Boboli Gardens to Bobolino and Forte di Belvedere, via di Belvedere, via dei Bastioni, piazza Poggi, Cascine, between Fosso Macinante, the Mugnone, the Arno and piazza Vittorio Veneto.
