When Tourists Overstep The Mark, Is Venetian Authorities’ Response Proportionate?
Many of us travel in our free time; to relax away from it all, spend time with loved ones and friends, to explore different countries or investigate art, history and culture.
This week two German tourists in Venice were fined €950 for making coffee by the steps of the famous Rialto bridge.
Of course, one should always show respect when a guest in a country and leave as little negative impact as possible — preferably none. But was this an over-reaction by Venetian authorities?
The coffee-making tourists were also asked by the municipal authorities to leave the city.
I remember that around this time last year coffee in Venice at an eye-watering price hit the headlines when a customer complained at a bill for €43 for two coffees and two small bottles of water at a coffee in St Mark’s Square.
The price, apparently, was the result of a surcharge imposed on customers sitting outside the café in the sunniest corner of the piazza, opposite St Mark’s Basilica. Not the coffee and the water that were expensive, it was sunshine and the view that attracted the surcharge.
But back to the two German backpackers. Both from Berlin, aged 32 and 35, they had settled at the foot of the world-famous landmark and got out their portable coffee-making equipment. A passer-by reported them to the police and so began a chain of events that would see these two travellers, probably on a budget, beat the record for the price of a coffee in Venice.
Under a new law, police officers fined them €950 for unseemly behaviour and asked them to leave Venice.
The city’s mayor offered robust support for the action of the police, describing the tourists’ behaviour as disrespectful. He also pointed out that people who have been asked to leave the city would have their identities passed on to the embassies and consulates of their home countries.
This new law covers ‘decency, cleanliness and safety’ in the lagoon city, which has a population of just 55,000 that swells annually by around 30 million visitors. Among other things the new law, passed in May of this year, bans picnicking at certain sites.
It may not have been the smartest idea to settle at a highly visible famous landmark to make coffee, but what I wouldn’t like to see happen is cities like Venice price themselves out of the market for young travellers and those holidaying on a budget.
What Venice has to offer is priceless. The experience is uplifting and it’s one that will stay forever with those who visit.
I am not proposing a solution. I just hope Venetian authorities can achieve a balance to ensure the city and its cultural riches remain accessible to everyone who is drawn to visit them.
SOURCES: https://www.thelocal.it/20190720/venice-tourists-slapped-with-950-fine-for-making-themselves-a-coffee-outdoors
https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/venice-st-marks-square-cafe-prices-tourists-san-marco-a8481376.html
