There are approximately twelve million hectares devoted to olive groves in the world, and around seven million hectares are cultivated with vineyards. The majority of this cultivated area is located in the Mediterranean basin, with Spain and Italy being among the countries dedicating the largest area of land to these crops. Historically, these woody crops have been managed with traditional tillage to prevent competition for water and nutrients with the underlying vegetation. The use of alternative management practices such as cover crops improves the physical-chemical and biological properties of the soil, preventing erosion and enhancing soil structure due to increased levels of organic matter in the soil, while also improving other ecosystem services. Biological properties are generally sensitive to changes in soil management, with enzymatic activities being one of the most commonly used biological indicators for studying these processes. This study aims to compare the impact of contrasting soil management (traditional tillage versus management with spontaneous vegetation cover), on the soil enzymatic activities in olive groves and vineyards located in Sardinia (Italy). Two vineyards situated in Central and Eastern Sardinia, and two olive groves in North-western Sardinia were selected. In each of these locations, soil samples in the selected grove with vegetation cover and a nearby tilled plot were collected. Three composite samples were taken at two depths (0-10 cm and 10-30 cm). In each soil sample, β-glucosidase, arylsulfatase, urease and phosphatase activities were determined following ISO20130. An analysis of variance was performed with a general linear model (Statgraphics Centurion XVIII) considering soil management and depth as factors. Significant differences were found in all studied enzymatic activities except for phosphatase. Sardinian vineyards with cover crops showed significantly higher enzymatic activities than tilled vineyards for the enzymes β-glucosidase, arylsulfatase and urease. Oppositely, in the studied olive groves, enzymatic activity of β-glucosidase, arylsulfatase, and urease was higher in tilled olive groves than in those with cover crops. In conclusion, the use of cover crops in woody crops affects the activity of soil microorganisms. Nevertheless, factors such as main crop and plant cover characteristics as the inputs of organic matter, as well as soil type and soil physicochemical properties have to be taken into account to interpret the results.