Rome has banned some of the city’s best-located souvenire stands, part of Mayor Virginia Raggi’s campaign to improve the city’s image. The banned stands, which sell all the usual sorts of souvenirs as well as food, were all at high-profile sites such as the Trevi Fountains and the Piazza Navona.
The stands have had to relocated to areas with less traffic, although some are near their original locations. Raggi called for the new regulations last year, saying that “For years, the monuments of the city have been tarnished by vendors who sell drinks, panini and trinkets in front of Rome’s architectural jewels. This is no longer tolerable.”
Some of the vendors have been outspoken in opposition to the new rules; one of them whose family has run a stand at the Trevi Fountain for seven generations, complained that it is a legitimate business that pays rent and a range of taxes.
Among other new rules implemented on behalf of ‘decorum,’ the city now bans love locks, men topless men in public, eating messy foods near popular attractions and wheeling suitcases and strollers down the Spanish Steps.
I like the Mayor’s call.