Florence extends short-term rental ban beyond historic centre
Florence became the first Italian city to limit new short-term tourist lets outside its centro storico, after the city council on Tuesday extended an existing ban to nine residential neighbourhoods including Campo di Marte, Rifredi and Gavinana.
The council said it was acting to protect housing for residents, the local edition of Corriere della Sera reported.
"We are the first in Italy to have brought in this block in the Unesco area, and now also outside it," Mayor Sara Funaro said, adding she hoped other cities in Italy would follow.
READ ALSO: Why more Italian cities could start clamping down on short-term lets
Property owners' associations criticised the decision as driven by "ideological fervour", while the CGIL trade union backed it as a step towards protecting residential housing.
The measure built on a 2025 regulation that froze new tourist rental licences in the city's historic centre, which the Tuscan regional administrative court (TAR) upheld earlier this year after rejecting 19 appeals from property owners.
Italy investigates easyJet over baggage fees
Italy's competition authority opened an investigation into easyJet on Tuesday over the way the budget airline sold additional checked baggage and sports equipment transport on round-trip flights, Ansa reported.
The AGCM watchdog said easyJet's booking process showed only an average price for the service and set the bundled option for both outbound and return flights as the default, even when customers did not want it.
It said this could mislead passengers about the actual cost per flight, and forced them to interrupt the booking process to override the default if they only wanted the extra service one way.
The AGCM said it opened the investigation after easyJet failed to act on earlier appeals from the regulator.
Ferrari unveils its first fully electric car
Italian luxury carmaker Ferrari on Tuesday unveiled its first fully electric model, the Luce, belatedly joining rivals like Porsche and Lamborghini.
But it has yet to win over investors, AFP reported, with Ferrari shares the worst performers on the Milan stock exchange on Tuesday.
The five-seat Luce - which analysts say could be priced upwards of 700,000 euros - has a 122 kWh battery and a range of around 530 kilometres.
"This new model carries into the future the values that make Ferrari instantly recognisable all over the world," Chairman John Elkann said after presenting the car to Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Pope Leo XIV in Rome.
Built in a new factory in Maranello, northern Italy, the first cars are scheduled for delivery toward the end of this year.
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