Area Code 0187 – La Spezia

Geographic Coverage and Administrative Jurisdiction

The Italian area code 0187 is a Geographic National Destination Code (NDC) assigned to the province of La Spezia, located in the eastern part of the Liguria region in northwestern Italy. The code serves the city of La Spezia (the provincial capital) and its surrounding municipalities, including but not limited to Sarzana, Lerici, Ameglia, Arcola, Vezzano Ligure, and Santo Stefano di Magra. The administrative jurisdiction corresponds to the boundaries of the Province of La Spezia, which borders the Tyrrhenian Sea to the south and the regions of Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna to the east and north, respectively.

Dialing Formats and Caller Instructions

When dialing a landline number within the 0187 area code from another Italian fixed or mobile line, the full national significant number (NSN) must be used, which includes the trunk prefix 0 followed by the area code and the subscriber number. The complete national format is: 0187 XXX XXX (where X represents the local subscriber digits). For example, a typical number in La Spezia might be 0187 123 456.

For international callers, the Italian country code +39 must be dialed, followed by the area code without the leading zero. Thus, the international format is: +39 187 XXX XXX. For instance, to call the aforementioned number from abroad, you would dial +39 187 123 456. It is important to note that the leading 0 is only used for domestic calls within Italy and is omitted when dialing from outside the country.

Local Dialing and Overlay Considerations

Within the 0187 area, local calls (i.e., calls between numbers sharing the same area code) still require dialing the full 10-digit number (including the area code) because Italy adopted a closed dialing plan in 1998. There is no local-only dialing without the area code. As of the latest ITU-T E.164 allocation, no overlay code has been introduced for La Spezia; the 0187 code remains the sole geographic code for the province. However, subscribers may have migrated to VoIP or mobile services, but the geographic code remains tied to the physical location of the fixed line.

Technical Notes for Callers

From a technical standpoint, the 0187 code is routed over the Italian PSTN and is also accessible via VoIP services. When calling from a mobile phone in Italy, the same national format applies. For callers using international roaming, it is essential to use the international format (+39 187...) to avoid misrouting. Additionally, some businesses may present a non-geographic alternative number, but the 0187 code specifically identifies a fixed-line service in the La Spezia region.