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Covering your face in public will be banned; Switzerland relaxes rules around foreign names; Trains connect Switzerland to two Italian cities
News for 12 November 2024
The so-called ‘anti-burqa” law will be enforced in Switzerland from March 1st, 2025, the Federal Council announced in a press release. The move was approved by Swiss voters in 2021.
And though the law refers to the ‘burqa’, any material disguising the wearer’s face will be illegal.
There will, however, be exceptions to the new rule — for instance, face coverings will be allowed on airplanes, places of worship, for health reasons (such a surgical masks), as well as for artistic purposes. People who break law will be liable to a fine of 100 francs.
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Individuals with names that include special characters from European languages will be able to use them in official records from November. The change comes as a new version of the country’s civil status register, Infostar NG (or 'Next Generation') came into effect on November 11th, 2024.
From this date, special characters in European languages can be used in Swiss civil status registers and official documents, the Federal Council said.
Foreign nationals can therefore ask the civil registry to adapt the spelling of their name, at the of cost of 75 francs for a single person and 100 francs for a family.
This process will be free of charge, however, when registering babies’ births.
The change comes as Switzerland's migrant population is increasing. The latest OECD data shows that 30 percent of the country's population is foreign-born.
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SBB and its Italian counterpart, Trenitalia, announced that new direct trains will operate from Zurich to Florence and Livorno, and vice versa, starting in 2026. To accomplish this goal, SBB ordered four new high-speed 'Giruno' trains, which essentially run on the north-south axis and provide the mainstay of Switzerland–Italy services.
An additional connection will also be introduced between Zurich, Milan and Venice.
These routes will supplement the 40 trains which run daily between Italy and Switzerland, including direct ones to Milan, Bologna, Verona, Genoa, Parma, Stresa, and Venice.
Véronique Stephan, Director of Passenger Traffic at SBB, said the company would like to have a direct connection from Zurich to Rome — currently, people travelling between the two cities need to change trains in Milan.