Constitutional Court upholds Tuscany’s tourism regulation on short-term leases

Italy’s Constitutional Court has rejected the nationwide authorities’s enchantment in opposition to Tuscany’s new tourism regulation, confirming the area’s proper to manage short-term leases and different native tourism actions.

The ruling, issued on December 16, upholds the legality of Tuscany’s Testo Unico del Turismo (Tourism Code), a complete framework adopted in 2024 that additionally contains measures to counter overtourism in cities equivalent to Florence. The authorities had challenged a number of articles of the regulation, arguing that they violated constitutional ideas associated to non-public property, free enterprise and nationwide competence over civil regulation.

The Court, nonetheless, discovered the objections unfounded. It dominated that the regional provisions—equivalent to requiring extra-hotel lodging to be managed as a enterprise and permitting municipalities to set limits on short-term leases—are according to the Constitution, as they pursue a “social perform” geared toward balancing tourism with residents’ wants.

The choice confirms that native authorities, particularly municipalities with excessive vacationer density, might regulate or cap the variety of short-term leases of their areas. The judges described this as a reputable administrative perform linked to land-use planning and tourism governance, not an infringement on civil regulation or personal possession.

Tuscany’s president, Eugenio Giani, welcomed the choice as “a victory on all fronts,” saying it validates the area’s method to managing tourism strain and preserving housing availability.

Florence’s mayor, Sara Funaro, additionally described the ruling as “a serious step ahead for sustainable tourism,” saying it strengthens the suitable of municipalities to guard the identification of cities and enhance residents’ high quality of life. She recalled that Florence was the primary Italian metropolis to undertake a neighborhood regulation on short-term leases as soon as the regional framework allowed it.

Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè reacted in a different way, saying the ruling nonetheless “confirms the soundness of the nationwide authorities’s laws” on the short-term rental sector, however known as it “disconcerting” that the Court attributed regulatory powers to regional and native ranges.

The 2024 Tourism Code had been quickly suspended pending the Court’s choice. Its entry into full impact is predicted to present Tuscan municipalities a clearer authorized foundation for managing the expansion of vacation leases, which have change into some extent of rivalry in Florence and different artwork cities.

In current years, the fast growth of short-term leases has raised housing prices in Florence and different Tuscan cities, lowering long-term lodging for residents. The new regulation is a part of a broader regional effort to take care of a steadiness between tourism improvement and group well-being, a theme that additionally emerged in the course of the 2025 regional election marketing campaign.

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