Milan launches a crackdown on wild nightlife with an ordinance that will come into force on May 17th and will last until November 4th. However, with the new rules on takeaway, according to criticism from traders,
it could become difficult to eat an ice cream after midnight
while walking in Brera or along the Darsena, or even just drinking a bottle of water.
With the new crackdown, in fact, the Municipality intends to introduce "a ban on the sale and takeaway of food and drinks of any kind, alcoholic and non-alcoholic" from midnight to 6 in the morning. The areas affected are 12, as can be read in the document published on the noticeboard, it is not yet the ordinance but the notice addressed to the categories and operators, who will have twenty days to formulate their observations and requests to the administration. They range from the classic Milanese nightlife areas such as Corso Como, Arco della Pace, the Isola district, Garibaldi, the Darsena and the Navigli, up to the more recent Nolo, Lazzaretto, Sarpi. All areas that the Municipality intends to protect after years of uncontrolled nightlife which provoked protests from residents due to degradation, chaos and wild parking.
But according to traders this is not the right path. "It is a provision that will not serve to combat bad nightlife - commented the general secretary of the Confcommercio of Milan, Marco Barbieri - and will affect citizens, tourists and businesses". In fact, after midnight, as Confcommercio observes, "it will no longer be possible to sell an ice cream cone or a take-away bottle of water". A further restriction will then be related to the use of dehors which have increased greatly after the Covid years.
The ordinance that will come into force provides for a ban on using the outdoor areas for any activity, "from 00.30 to 06.00 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday; and from 01.30 to 06.00 on Saturday and Sunday and public holidays during the week". It is the first time that Milan has experimented with an ordinance against wild nightlife for such a long period of time. There will also be another instrument, as the Municipality's Safety Councilor Marco Granelli explained a few weeks ago in the commission, that of the Regulation for the regulation of food and drink administration activities, which will have to pass through the Municipal Council.
The Regulation will identify the wild nightlife areas to be protected, in which it will be necessary to guarantee that the opening of evening and night-time activities takes place with the binding commitment to implement mitigation measures. There will then be areas, yet to be identified, to be subjected to high protection, where the opening of new night-time administration activities will be discouraged.