In a rare intervention on border management, the president of the National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI), Gaetano Manfredi, has written to Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi asking for “urgent, extraordinary measures” to mitigate the operational impact of the Entry/Exit System. The letter, seen by Agenzia Nova, warns that long queues at airports and land crossings are spilling over into local transport networks and municipal services. ANCI points out that many small and medium-sized cities host gateway airports: Bergamo, Treviso, Pisa and Brindisi all handle more passengers in July than they have residents. If coaches, taxis and urban buses are forced to idle while tourists clear biometric controls, congestion and pollution spike and local mobility plans collapse. The association therefore asks Rome to authorise temporary staffing surges of border police, extend opening hours of e-gate lanes for EU citizens to free manual booths, and lobby Brussels for flexibility until the end of the peak season. The plea reflects growing frustration among local authorities that were not directly involved in the EES roll-out but must manage the consequences. Mayors fear reputational damage at the height of the Universal Jubilee pre-events, which are already drawing record crowds to Rome and Assisi. Tourism generates over €95 billion for municipal budgets; even a small dip in visitor satisfaction could hit next year’s tax revenues and employment.
![Italian mayors’ association ANCI urges “extraordinary measures” to ease EES bottlenecks at land and air borders]()
For travellers looking to minimise hassles at Italian borders during this high-pressure period, VisaHQ offers a practical lifeline. Its dedicated Italy page (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) consolidates the latest visa, biometric and Schengen entry guidance, helping visitors prepare documents correctly and avoid snags that lengthen queues and strain local services.
While the Interior Ministry says it is “monitoring the situation”, unions representing border officials argue that without a structural hiring plan the problem will simply resurface at Christmas. ANCI proposes a rapid-reaction “border task force” modelled on the one deployed for the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics, with costs shared between State, regions and airport concessionaires. For businesses the message is clear: factor municipal transport disruption into last-mile logistics, inform expatriates about alternative train routes from border towns such as Ventimiglia and Tarvisio, and encourage clients to pre-book taxi or NCC services to avoid surge pricing triggered by delays.
For travellers looking to minimise hassles at Italian borders during this high-pressure period, VisaHQ offers a practical lifeline. Its dedicated Italy page (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) consolidates the latest visa, biometric and Schengen entry guidance, helping visitors prepare documents correctly and avoid snags that lengthen queues and strain local services.
While the Interior Ministry says it is “monitoring the situation”, unions representing border officials argue that without a structural hiring plan the problem will simply resurface at Christmas. ANCI proposes a rapid-reaction “border task force” modelled on the one deployed for the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics, with costs shared between State, regions and airport concessionaires. For businesses the message is clear: factor municipal transport disruption into last-mile logistics, inform expatriates about alternative train routes from border towns such as Ventimiglia and Tarvisio, and encourage clients to pre-book taxi or NCC services to avoid surge pricing triggered by delays.
