Siracusa cuts tourist medical guard posts, leaving 50,000 summer visitors without onsite care

For the 2026 summer season the Azienda Sanitaria Provinciale (ASP) of Siracusa announced that only one Tourist Medical Guard post – at Brucoli – will be operational. All other planned posts along the southern Sicilian coast were cancelled because insufficient doctors applied for the assignments. The ASP’s alternative plan directs non‑urgent patients to existing Community Health Houses: residents of Fontane Bianche and Avola Antica must go to the Casa della Comunità in Avola; those in Noto Marina to the one in Noto; and tourists in Marzamemi and Portopalo di Capo Passero to the facility in Pachino, several kilometres away.

Mayors Giuseppe Gambuzza (Pachino) and Rachele Rocca (Portopalo) protested the decision, noting that the coastal area normally hosts more than 50,000 people – residents, holiday‑makers and tourists – during peak season. They warned that the reduced medical coverage risks delayed emergency care and undermines the region’s tourism economy. The ASP claims the temporary arrangement complies with national collective agreements and will be supplemented by night‑time continuity services and the remaining ex‑guard posts.

The controversy highlights a broader shortage of physicians in the province and raises concerns about adequate health protection for the summer influx of visitors.