Abruzzo

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.

Fast Adriatic railway along the coast (Pescara), slow link to Rome via Sulmona–Avezzano being upgraded. TUA regional buses, A24/A25 motorways to Rome and A14 on the coast. Pescara airport. Inland a car is indispensable; L'Aquila has no direct trains to Rome.

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.

Four provincial health authorities (Avezzano-Sulmona-L'Aquila, Lanciano-Vasto-Chieti, Pescara, Teramo), no independent hospital trust. Abruzzo was under a recovery plan from 2007 and run by a commissioner until 2016; in the 2023 LEA monitoring it is non-compliant in two areas. Patient outflows to Rome and the Marche.

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 rates midway between the Centre and the South. Automotive and components in the Val di Sangro, pharmaceuticals and electronics in L'Aquila and Avezzano, agri-food around Teramo and Chieti, services and retail in Pescara. Seasonality on the coast and ski slopes. ZES unica incentives; regional job centres.

Three state universities: L'Aquila, "G. d'Annunzio" Chieti–Pescara and Teramo, plus the Gran Sasso Science Institute (doctorates) and academies and conservatories. Student support is run by three separate ADSU agencies, one per university.

Four provinces: L'Aquila, Teramo, Pescara, Chieti. Ordinary statute, no minority recognised under law 482/1999. Festivals: Perdonanza Celestiniana in L'Aquila (28–29 August, UNESCO heritage), San Cetteo in Pescara, Festa dei Serpari in Cocullo.

Temperate Adriatic coast, mountainous interior with long snowy winters (L'Aquila is among the coldest regional capitals in Italy). High seismic risk: zone 1 along the whole Apennine ridge; L'Aquila earthquake of 6 April 2009 and the 2016–2017 sequence in the Teramo area. Avalanches, summer fires, landslides.

Three national parks (Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga, Maiella, Abruzzo Lazio and Molise with the Marsican bear), UNESCO ancient beech forests, villages such as Santo Stefano di Sessanio, Rocca Calascio and Scanno, the Costa dei Trabocchi with its cycle path. Two seasons: sea in July–August, skiing December–March. Municipal tourist tax.