Videos showing disrespectful behavior by tourists in Italy have gone viral on social media. Italy’s tourism minister is now calling for tougher penalties for “bad behavior”.
ROME — A woman climbs the Trevi Fountain in Rome to fill her water bottle and a tourist from Britain carves his girlfriend’s initials into the Colosseum — many tourists in Italy are becoming increasingly reckless and damaging historic monuments. These videos went viral on social media and now Italy’s Minister of Tourism, Daniela Santanchè, is outraged by the disrespectful behavior of some visitors.
Mass tourism in Italy is causing resentment among the locals. Now the tourism minister is also outraged. (archive image)
© Sergio Monti/IMAGO
Anger at vacationers in Italy: Minister of Tourism criticizes disrespectful behavior
Be it the woman at the Trevi Fountain in Rome, tourists scratching old masonry or a man who, according to US television stations CBS belly-jumping into the UNESCO-protected canals of Venice – such cases are increasing and are probably also a result of the ongoing mass tourism in Italy. Daniela Santanchè, Italy’s Minister of Tourism, is now venting her anger: “These tourists are also vandals because they have no respect for our cultural heritage, which belongs not only to Italy but to the whole world,” she told the broadcaster CBS.
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Italy’s culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano is also outraged and hopes that the perpetrators will be punished accordingly. Loud t-online fines of up to 20,000 euros can follow for this offense. He wrote on Twitter: “I consider it very serious, undignified and a sign of great rudeness that a tourist defaces one of the most famous places in the world, the Colosseum, to engrave the name of his fiancee.”
Reputo gravissimo, indegno e segno di grande inciviltà, che un turista sfregi uno dei luoghi più celebri al mondo, il Colosseo, per incidentere il nome della sua fidanzata. Spero che chi ha compiuto questo gesto venga individuato e sanzionato secondo le nostre leggi. pic.twitter.com/p8Jss1GWuY
— Gennaro Sangiuliano (@g_sangiuliano) June 26, 2023
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“We presented a bill with a very simple concept: whoever breaks it pays for it,” Santanchè told CBS. She also stressed that it was time for European governments to crack down. In many Italian tourist regions, there are already crazy rules that can result in high fines. This ranges from bans on sandcastles, kissing in public to snacks to-go in some places. Now it’s all about punishing misconduct that damages Italy’s cultural heritage with heavy fines. (eike)
List of rubrics: © Sergio Monti/IMAGO
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