Author: switzerlandtimes.ch

Bern’s emergency shelters are under strain—and most of those using them are not Swiss.A new regulation introduced in October 2025 by the canton of Bern restricts access to emergency accommodation to people with valid papers, in an effort to ration scarce spaces. The measure, intended to ensure that limited places go to those legally entitled to them, has provoked opposition in the city. Fresh figures this week have added fuel to the debate. Data obtained by Swiss broadcaster SRF show that Bern’s main homeless shelter, with 60 beds, was consistently full in 2024. Just under a third of residents—30%—were Swiss.…

With winter setting in, Switzerland’s Gotthard Pass and the hiking and cycling trail through the Schöllenen Gorge will shut for safety reasons. The closures, announced by the Federal Roads Office (FEDRO), take effect on November 7th, 2025. FEDRO said on Thursday that the Gotthard route between Hospental in Uri and Airolo in Ticino will be closed to all traffic from Friday owing to winter conditions. During the closure, vehicles will continue to use the Gotthard road tunnel as normal. Following a rockfall in Jostbach in September, which caused damage in the area, snow-retention structures are being installed above the Teufelsbrücke…

Switzerland’s road deaths have risen by a third over the past five years, even as fatalities have fallen across much of Europe. The country’s accident-prevention bureau (BPA) on Tuesday lamented the trend and called for a more coherent road-safety policy backed by all stakeholders. According to the BPA, the number of people killed on Swiss roads has increased by 34% since 2019, whereas the European average has dropped by 12%, figures from the European Transport Safety Council show. Over a decade, the contrast is also stark: deaths are up by 2.9% in Switzerland, but down 17% across Europe. A grim…

After six consecutive cuts, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) has left its key rate unchanged at 0%. It also reaffirmed its willingness to intervene in foreign-exchange markets if needed. Inflationary pressures, it noted, remain broadly stable. The bank will keep a close eye on the data and adjust policy as required to safeguard price stability. Few were surprised: most economists had anticipated the pause. The economic outlook, however, is murkier. America’s steeper tariffs have cast a shadow, with trade policy and slowing global growth cited as the main risks. The SNB still expects Swiss GDP to expand by 1–1.5% in…

Students staged protests across Switzerland on Wednesday against a plan to double university registration fees and other austerity measures in higher education, reported RTS. A petition with more than 37,000 signatures was handed to the Federal Chancellery in Bern. The fee rise forms part of the Federal Council’s 2027 budget-consolidation package. The Swiss Students’ Union (UNES) says it would erode equal opportunity and weaken the country’s education system: Cut education today and you get skills shortages, lower social mobility and less innovation, say those opposing the fee hikes. The public-sector union warns that planned research cuts, including to the Swiss…

Switzerland’s Federal Council intends to tax electric cars from 2030 to make up for shrinking fuel-tax revenues, reported SRF. Two models are on the table: a levy per kilometre driven or a surcharge on the electricity used to charge vehicles. Either would require a constitutional amendment, meaning approval from both voters and cantons. The logic is straightforward. Roads in Switzerland are funded entirely by users. The main source of cash is the mineral-oil tax, which feeds the National Road and Agglomeration Transport Fund and other pots. Roughly half of the levy also tops up the federal budget. As petrol and…

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Zurich City’s citizens will decide on 28 September 2025 whether to ban petrol-powered leaf blowers. A Left-Green coalition wants only quieter electric ones, and only in autumn – from October to December. The city council and a majority of the municipal council are on board. But opposition was sufficient to call a vote against the move. Opponents, mainly centrists, call the plan needless meddling that will make gardeners’ work harder. They forced the proposal to a referendum, arguing that the tools are noisy but not intolerable. Many Swiss municipalities already have noise rules. It is not uncommon for excessive noise…

Last Sunday, Swiss voted to scrap one of the country’s most peculiar taxes: imputed rent, known as valeur locative or Eigenmietwert. Across the country 58% voted in favour of abolishing it. However, across French-speaking Switzerland, every canton voted against the plan. By contrast, in German-speaking cantons, with the exception of Basel-City, abolition won strong support. For decades homeowners have had to declare as taxable income a notional rent they would have paid had they been tenants in their own homes. At the same time, they could deduct mortgage interest and maintenance. The idea, first used in Basel-City in 1880, became…

Social media should be banned for under-18s, argues the head of Switzerland’s association of German-speaking school principals, reported RTS. Thomas Minder, president of the association, says young people need stronger protection from the addictive pull of online platforms, comparing smartphone dependency to addictions to alcohol and tobacco. Even adults struggle to use these apps responsibly, Minder told Tamedia. Do we really want algorithms designed to capture the minds of our children? The debate over social-media restrictions for minors often overlaps with calls to ban mobile phones in schools, he noted — though he dismissed such proposals as “political window-dressing” by…