Sardinia

To enter with a dog, cat or ferret you need a microchip, an EU pet passport or health certificate and a valid rabies vaccination. Mandatory registration in the regional pet register, lead at all times and a muzzle to hand. Pets allowed on trains under Trenitalia rules and in apartment buildings by law.

Rules depend on who is arriving: EU/EEA/Swiss citizens (no visa, registration with the Comune after three months), non-EU citizens for stays up to 90 days (Schengen rule, type C visa where required) and for long stays (national type D visa and a residence permit within eight working days of arrival).

Before: documents, housing, school. First week: codice fiscale, SIM, bank account. First month: residence permit if non-EU, residence, SSN registration, then the driving licence within a year. Household goods duty-free for arrivals from outside the EU, car to be re-registered.

No motorways: the SS131 Carlo Felice and toll-free state roads, a car is indispensable. Trenitalia railway largely non-electrified (Cagliari–Sassari/Olbia about three hours), ARST narrow-gauge lines, Cagliari and Sassari tramways. Airports of Cagliari, Olbia and Alghero with territorial continuity; ferries from Olbia, Golfo Aranci, Porto Torres, Cagliari and Arbatax.

Euro, cards accepted almost everywhere, a legal cash limit. Anyone living in Italy for most of the year is tax resident and taxed on worldwide income under three IRPEF brackets; specific regimes exist for the self-employed (forfettario), inbound workers, foreign pensioners and new residents. Contributions go to INPS; annual return with the 730 or Redditi form.

Since 2022 eight territorial health authorities (Sassari, Gallura, Nuoro, Ogliastra, Oristano, Medio Campidano, Sulcis, Cagliari), ARNAS Brotzu, the Cagliari and Sassari university hospitals, AREUS and ARES. Funded entirely from the regional budget, briefly under a recovery plan in the late 2000s; compliant in the 2023 LEA monitoring. Regional CUP 1533; doctor shortages inland.

Non-EU pensioners enter with the elective residence visa, EU pensioners through free movement; public healthcare is accessible by compulsory or voluntary registration. Optional 7% regime on foreign income for those moving to small southern municipalities. Cheap houses in villages, services concentrated in cities.

Employment rate below the national average but above the rest of the South; strong tourism seasonality from May to September. Public administration, retail, tourism, sheep farming and agri-food, services in Cagliari; industrial crises in the Sulcis and Porto Torres. Job centres run by ASPAL; ZES unica and regional incentives.

Two state universities: University of Cagliari and University of Sassari (with sites in Alghero, Nuoro, Oristano and Olbia), plus academies and conservatories. Grants, housing and canteens are run by two regional bodies, ERSU Cagliari and ERSU Sassari; the Region also funds grants to study off the island.

Special statute (1948). Intermediate bodies under reform: metropolitan cities of Cagliari and Sassari and provinces of Nuoro, Oristano, Gallura Nord-Est, Ogliastra, Medio Campidano and Sulcis Iglesiente, run by commissioners pending elections. Sardinian and Alghero Catalan protected by law 482/1999; Tabarchino, Gallurese and Sassarese by regional law. Sant'Efisio, Candelieri, Sartiglia.

Mediterranean climate with dry summers, strong Maestrale winds and mild winters; snow only on the Gennargentu. The only region entirely in seismic zone 4 (minimal risk). Recurrent droughts with farm water rationing (Nurra 2024), extensive summer fires (Montiferru 2021), flash floods (November 2013 cyclone in Olbia, Bitti 2020).

Two UNESCO sites: Su Nuraxi di Barumini and, since 2025, the domus de janas. Coasts among the busiest in Italy with the season concentrated between June and September; beaches with daily caps and booking (La Pelosa at Stintino, Cala Goloritzé and Cala Mariolu at Baunei, Tuerredda, Punta Molentis), ban on removing sand. Asinara and La Maddalena parks. Little-visited interior.