Venice’s ‘love-hate relationship’ with visitors continues to churn up new ideas and new rules for guests in a city that’s conscious of its image and its delicate circumstances. The rules often seem more like an expression of frustration than regulation.
And this time, some of the regulations are paired with sizable fines. Some are for common offenses such as littering (€100-200), graffiti (€400) that would be an issue anywhere. Others are very Venetian, including swimming or diving in the canals (€450), using a bicycle in the city or pushing one through the streets (€100), or wearing swimsuits in public (€200).
Among the more controversial are likely to be bans on sitting on the ground while eating, intended to discourage picnicers in high-traffic areas ((€200) and fines for buying fake goods from unlicensed vendors (€100 to €7,000!)
And, on the more laudable side: The city will collect €100 from anyone caught attaching a padlock to bridges or monuments. And, for those who like to attract flocks of birds by scattering bread, feeding pigeons or seagulls will now cost between €50 and €200.
