Apulia

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.

Adriatic line with Frecce trains to Bari, Lecce and Taranto; regional railways run by five operators (Trenitalia, FS Sud Est, Ferrotramviaria, Ferrovie Appulo Lucane, Ferrovie del Gargano). Bari and Brindisi airports, Foggia reopened. Ports of Bari and Brindisi for Greece, Albania, Croatia and Montenegro. In the Salento and inland Foggia area a car is needed.

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.

Six provincial health authorities (Bari, BAT, Brindisi, Foggia, Lecce, Taranto), two university hospital trusts (Policlinico di Bari, Ospedali Riuniti di Foggia), public research hospitals and large religious hospitals (Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, Miulli). Compliant in the 2023 LEA monitoring, after the recovery plan started in 2010. Puglia Salute portal and app for bookings.

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 around 50%, unemployment above the national average. Highly seasonal agriculture and tourism; aerospace (Grottaglie, Brindisi, Foggia), steel in Taranto in crisis, engineering and ICT in Bari, energy. Job centres run by ARPAL Puglia. Graduate emigration; ZES unica incentives.

Four state universities (University of Bari Aldo Moro, Politecnico di Bari, University of Salento in Lecce, University of Foggia) and the non-state LUM in Casamassima; branch campuses in Taranto and Brindisi. Grants, housing and canteens are run by ADISU Puglia through local offices.

Metropolitan city of Bari and five provinces (Barletta-Andria-Trani, Brindisi, Foggia, Lecce, Taranto). Ordinary statute. Three law 482/1999 minorities: Griko speakers of the Grecìa Salentina, Arbëreshë of San Marzano, Casalvecchio and Chieuti, Franco-Provençal speakers of Faeto and Celle di San Vito. Festivals: San Nicola in Bari, Sant'Oronzo in Lecce, Notte della Taranta.

Dry Mediterranean climate with long, hot summers and Scirocco winds; water almost entirely imported from Basilicata and Campania through the Acquedotto Pugliese, with recurrent droughts around Foggia. Seismic zone 1–2 in the Gargano and Capitanata, 4 in the Salento. Summer fires, Xylella in the olive groves, industrial pollution in Taranto.

Four UNESCO sites (Castel del Monte, trulli of Alberobello, sanctuary of St Michael at Monte Sant'Angelo, Foresta Umbra) plus the Via Appia. Salento, Gargano, Valle d'Itria, Bari and Lecce. Beach season concentrated in July and August with heavy pressure on the Salento; municipal tourist tax.