Tourists fined for making coffee at Venice bridge

by **Kitkat** Sat 20 Jul 2019, 13:26

Kitkat

Post n°1

Tourists fined for making coffee at Venice bridge

Post by Kitkat Sat 20 Jul 2019, 13:26

Police in Venice have fined two German tourists who were caught making coffee on the steps of the Rialto bridge.

The backpackers, aged 32 and 35, were fined a total of €950 (£853) for preparing coffee on a travel cooker. They were also asked to leave the city.

Venice has introduced a law on a series of public order offences - including picnicking at certain sites and not wearing a shirt in public spaces.

About 30 million tourists visit the city every year.

The tourists from Berlin were spotted making coffee at the foot of the Rialto Bridge - the oldest of the four bridges on the Grand Canal. They were reported to police by a passerby.

Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said: "Venice must be respected and those impolite people who come here and do what they want must understand that. Thanks to the local police, they will be sanctioned and removed."
Those found flouting the rules will have their identities shared with the embassy of their home country.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49054042

by **lar-lar** Sat 03 Aug 2019, 20:55

lar-lar

lar-lar

Post n°2

Re: Tourists fined for making coffee at Venice bridge

Post by lar-lar Sat 03 Aug 2019, 20:55

That's a hefty fine. I imagine that bridge would be full of tourists so it's a thoughtless place to stop and make coffee but does it warrant a fine? I have mixed views.

by **Brin** Sun 04 Aug 2019, 17:32

Brin

Brin

Post n°3

Re: Tourists fined for making coffee at Venice bridge

Post by Brin Sun 04 Aug 2019, 17:32

There must have been more to it though. Not only fined but asked to leave the city too! and their identities recorded at the German embassy. Could be they were trying to sell the coffee to passers by??
We don't always get the full story. I just think there has to be a bit more to this report that we don't hear about.

Yes, this is it -- looking further into it https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/tourists-told-leave-venice-after-18437136

The city last December got approval to introduce a tourism tax to target daytrippers, which is likely to come into force later this year.
The €10 (£9) is aimed at short-stay tourists like cruise ship visitors, who are viewed as swelling the city's crowds but contributing little to the economy.
Tourists who dodge paying the fee will be able to be slapped with a fine of up to €450 (£406).

It appears they did not pay the €10 entrance fee to the city so they both got slapped with the fine for dodging the fee. The total amount of their combined fine plus the €10 each entrance fee adds up to the €950 with a little extra thrown in on top!

Drastic measures to tackle a desperate situation -- as anyone who has visited Venice in recent years will know just how bad the crowded tourism situation has become there.

by **Kitkat** Sun 04 Aug 2019, 21:28

Kitkat

Kitkat

Post n°4

Re: Tourists fined for making coffee at Venice bridge

Post by Kitkat Sun 04 Aug 2019, 21:28

Brin wrote:
Drastic measures to tackle a desperate situation -- as anyone who has visited Venice in recent years will know just how bad the crowded tourism situation has become there.

I can only imagine (about recent years, that is). It's almost 30 years since I was in Venice - on a coach day-trip during a holiday spent in the Lago di Garda area. I remember upon reaching Venice, when filing out of the coach ready to explore, our day-trip guide had with her a huge Donald Duck umbrella which she said would be a guide for us to know where the group is and so that none of us would get lost. I honestly thought this was intended in humour as some kind of joke, but could not believe the scene that hit us when walking through the dense crowds milling around the whole place. Above the the heads of the throngs were literally hundreds of large umbrellas dotted around, each with their own distinctive design, obviously held up by different tour guides to let their individual herds know where their shepherd was as you fought your way through the barely moving sea of tourists. I remember thinking and saying at the time how awful this must be for the people who actually lived there.
I also remember thinking though that this is probably not the 'norm', as this was 1990 - Italy was hosting the World Cup (football) - 'Nessun Dorma' filled the air wherever you went; there obviously would have been an exceptional influx of visitors to the country over the duration of The World Cup, not least made up of fans from the various participating countries. So, many years later, maybe it is 'the norm' now. I can certainly understand and sympathise with the need for certain measures to be taken to keep such a situation under some kind of control.