Giuridico e Amministrativo

🏆 Italy announces its first national tour guide competition today at 18:00, with applications open until February 27. Over 4,000 candidates expected to participate. Entry requirements include a secondary education diploma and a €10 fee. The competition involves three stages: a written exam with 80 multiple-choice questions, an oral test requiring knowledge of a foreign language, and a practical test of conducting a guided tour. Successful candidates will join the existing list of 10,000+ accredited guides.

✈ Air Europa and Sas signed a codeshare agreement at Fitur in Madrid, linking Spain to Scandinavia. Air Europa will add its code to flights between Madrid and Copenhagen and connections from Copenhagen to Aarhus, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Oslo, Trondheim, Stavanger, and Bergen. Sas will code-share on Air Europa flights to Spanish destinations including La Coruña, Alicante, Barcelona, Bilbao, Gran Canaria, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife Norte, Vigo, and to Lisbon and Porto in Portugal. The deal introduces 20 new routes, enhancing flight planning and service consistency for SkyTeam members. This summer, the agreement will also include Air Europa’s intercontinental routes to Marrakech, Punta Cana, Santo Domingo, and Salvador de Bahia.

📋 Launched in 2023 in Brussels, Kiklegal is a web platform aiding class action lawsuits, now serving major markets including Italy, France, and the UK. It boasts 9 lawyers managing 7 class actions for 8,300 people. Noteworthy is a major dispute involving Brussels Airport, 110,000 residents, and 4 municipalities. The platform simplifies bureaucratic procedures and communication, providing transparency and media exposure for legal battles.

📖 The Italian government approved a bill to increase transparency in online reviews, particularly for hotels and restaurants, combating fake and paid reviews. Reviewers must provide identity verification and prove real presence at the location. Online reviews influence 82% of accommodation bookings and 70% of restaurant choices. TripAdvisor's 2022 data revealed 1.3 million (4.3%) of 30.2 million reviews were fraudulent. The bill also allows businesses to remove outdated or misleading reviews and prohibits buying or selling reviews. Implementation and verification mechanisms remain to be clarified.

🏠 Federalberghi Torino now supports private or entrepreneurially organized apartment owners offering short-term tourist rentals. The association provides property managers with consultancy, bureaucratic support, and other services to comply with regulations like the CIR (Codice Identificativo Regionale) and CIN (Codice Identificativo Nazionale), guest identification, smoke detectors, extinguishers, and tourist tax compliance. President Fabio Borio emphasizes the need for quality enhancement in tourist accommodations, while Lavinia Fanari highlights the win-win collaboration for improving tourist services.

💸 In Italy, Airbnb hosts preparing for tax declarations in 2025 must understand the "cedolare secca" flat tax rate: 21% for one property and 26% for multiple properties. This option, excluding IMU and income surcharges, simplifies tax filing. Eligibility requires the property to be residential, rented short-term, and not considered a professional activity. From 2025, Airbnb will withhold and remit taxes on hosts' behalf. Hosts must still keep accurate records, including deductible expenses. Non-compliance with new regulations, such as displaying the National Identification Code (CIN) on properties, can lead to fines.

✈ The Sicilian Region extended their flight price subsidy throughout 2025, granting a 25% reimbursement on ticket prices for flights to and from Rome Fiumicino, Rome Ciampino, Milan Linate, Milan Bergamo Orio al Serio, and Milan for Sicilian residents. An additional 25% is offered to residents earning less than €9,360 annually, students, and the disabled (with at least 67% disability). Reimbursement is valid for single leg ticket prices above €50, with a 30-day post-flight claim period.

📍 easyJet expands summer 2025 offerings with 3 new routes from Milan Malpensa and Naples, launching Milan Malpensa-Biarritz on June 23 (Mondays and Fridays), Milan Malpensa-Thessaloniki on June 25 (Wednesdays and Sundays), and Naples-Fuerteventura also starting June 25 (Wednesdays). This brings total new summer routes to 34, across 18 Italian airports, with over 250 connections.

🌊 Lagoa Azul in Alagos, dubbed the 'Brazilian Caribbean,' is closed to tourists by federal court order, rescinding a 2022 municipal decree that allowed visits. The closure is to protect biodiversity and coral reefs, as tourism threatened environmental standards. Previously, visits were limited to a maximum of 3 catamarans and 40 motorboats, with diving and photography services.

✈ Alitalia, also known as Società Aerea Italiana, officially ended its operations, with Ita Airways acquiring the brand. The historic Italian airline, which went bankrupt in 2017, has been dismantled between autumn 2021 and 2024. Key sales include the brand to Ita for €90 million, Swissport's acquisition of handling at Rome Fiumicino and Milan Linate for €14 million, Trenitalia purchasing the MilleMiglia program for €1.5 million, and Atitech taking over maintenance for €380,000.