ALERT! Proposed Sitting Ban & Fine for Venice tourists!

proposed sitting ban and fine for venice tourists. ouritalianjourney.com

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Proposed Ban for Venice Tourists

A friend brought this 12News article to my attention and we thought it was worth doing a post about. The article says that tourists in Venice will possibly be fined for sitting down in public places. This is crazy news! The Venice city council says that this is still under discussion and will vote on the proposal next month.

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Luigi Brugnaro, the city’s mayor has proposed a fine of up to 500 € (currently about $588 USD) for anyone who sits or lays down in an undesignated spot. Obviously, they are especially targeting busy tourist spots. This proposed ban is their way of trying to keep the growing number of tourists at bay.

Tourists are already banned from sitting on the Rialto Bridge and several churches in the city. Gary and I have traveled and stayed in Venice twice and never really saw the tourists sitting as the council is suggesting. Even looking back at our photographs, there are plenty of tourists busy getting from one place to another but not really sitting along the small narrow streets.

The news reports the sitting ban is still under discussion by the city’s council, who will vote on the proposal in October.

Other Restrictions

It seems that there are other numerous restrictions for visitors too although I do not recall seeing these written down anywhere. Tourists are supposedly instructed to walk on the right, and not to linger on bridges. They also say that walking around in swimwear and feeding pigeons are also not allowed.

Venice and Tourists

Venice is such a magical and popular tourist destination. This city is trying to get a grip on the increasing tourists and the impact it has on the islands. Officials have been working on trying to ban cruise ships as they say they are destroying the canals.

I do feel for the locals in Venice as they are the most impacted by the extreme amount of tourists in one small area. I am aware they benefit from the tourist industry, but it is impacting their living conditions. On the City of Venice site, I found this calendar that is a “tourist report” and how you can check on any given day, how many tourists are expected in Venice. Check it out, Venice Tourist Count Calendar

Courtesy of 12News: I saw this amazing video and wanted to share with you about Venice:

Other Cities in Italy

This news got me to thinking about other top Italian cities that might be faced with this same thing one day. As many times as we have gone to Rome, there are always crowds and people sitting on the Spanish Steps. Yup, I’m one of them in the white shirt with the scarf: