After many years of preparation, Venice finally launched this Thursday its controversial five-euro entrance toll for tourists who do not have a hotel reservation. This is an unprecedented measure – it is the first city in the world to impose a tax of this type – that has a clear objective: to stand up to mass tourism that for too many years has threatened the fragile balance of the city of canals and expelled without restraint to its residents.
The figures are very graphic because, if there are only about 50,000 inhabitants on the islands of Venice – not counting those who live on the mainland –, on days of high pressure there can be 40,000 visitors at the same time in Venice. Last year alone 20 million tourists came to walk through its alleys. After having kicked out large cruise ships from the historic center in 2021, the La Serenissima City Council has now decided to opt for an original measure after UNESCO threatened to include the municipality on the black list of world heritage in danger.
At the moment it is all an experiment that will be in force on 29 designated dates in 2024, until July 14. It all starts today, April 25, which in Italy is a holiday commemorating the liberation of Nazi-fascism, and will continue for the next 10 days. What they hope to obtain with all this is to have more information about tourist flows to control services and at the same time dissuade visitors from traveling to Venice on the dates of greatest crowding of people.
All dates are marked in red on an online platform that the City Council has set up, where you can reserve your ticket and obtain a QR code necessary to walk in front of the canals during these days. Even parishioners who come on Sunday, when Pope Francis will hold a massive mass in San Marco Square, will have to download it.
“I have the honor of being mayor of the most beautiful city in the world, but in recent years it has had a problem with the quality of life of the people, with civility and with respect for the rules,” defended the mayor, Luigi. Brugnaro, during a press conference with correspondents in Rome. No politician takes such a measure, because it is easier to stay still and not try to find a solution. “We try to make the city more usable and livable.”
The mayor has insisted that they do not intend to close the city as if it were an amusement park, and in fact, they do not plan to introduce barriers or turnstiles at the entrances such as the Santa Lucía train station, the Marco Polo airport or Piazzale Roma, where You can get there by car or bus. Six years ago, a test was carried out with turnstiles to regulate access flows and it turned out to be a complete disaster: they barely lasted half an hour after a group of protesters tore them off in front of the cameras.
For now, those in charge of controlling the access fee will be a team of 180 people, including volunteers and municipal workers, who will be able to ask tourists for the QR code. Those who are not in compliance risk a fine of between 50 and 300 euros. “It is not a measure that I take lightly, but if we continue talking we will never do anything to preserve the delicacy and beauty of Venice,” Mayor Brugnaro insisted. When the experimentation period ends, the intention is to open a time of reflection to study how the measure has gone and introduce the necessary improvements.
There are no reductions in the amount of 5 euros – initially the idea of imposing a price of 10 was considered – but there is a long list of exemptions. Starting with those under 14 years of age, the Venetians or those who come every day to work or study at their universities. Nor will relatives up to the third degree or friends have to pay it – they can prove it with a voucher that their loved ones will provide them –, residents of the Veneto region, or those who come to participate in sports competitions or to the hospital. Those who have a reservation for a hotel or other tourist accommodation structure simply enter it into the system, since they already pay the corresponding municipal tourist tax there. The idea is that only visitors who go to Venice to spend the day need the ticket, and contribute to the municipal coffers of a city under enormous tourist pressure.
