Rome crackdowns on tourist behaviour, ban on going topless, eating ‘messy’ food

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Rome has imposed  a slew of new rules to crackdown on bad tourist behavior that includes everything from public snacking to drinking from water fountains.

Men cannot go topless in public and practice of attaching ‘love padlocks’ to bridges has been shunned and will carry a fine if contravened.

As per the new regulation eating messy food around popular tourist attractions like the Trevi fountain was a strict no-no. Touching lips against the spout when drinking from Roman public water fountains was also barred.

The list of regulations has been updated and expanded by the city council to create a new package of rules. Some of which dated from 1947. Those caught wading or swimming in the city’s fountains will be imposed with ‘severe fines’ by the Rome authorities.

At some of the Eternal City’s biggest attractions like the Vatican Museums and Colosseum ticket touts selling ‘skip the line’ has been prohibited.  Also those who dress up as Roman centurions around tourist hotspots and charge money for photos were prohibited.

The bouncing wheeled suitcases or pushchairs up the Spanish Steps was off limits. From police patrolling attractions some offense might just attract a slap on the writs while other will incur a fine or a  ban from the area where the offense has occurred.

Virginia Raggi, the mayor of Rome mentioned that Rome is, and always will be, welcoming, but that does not mean tolerating bad behaviour and damage being done to the city.

She will be further writing to foreign embassies asking them to make citizens aware of the new rules when visiting the city.

Marco Cardilli, deputy chief of staff and security delegate at Rome’s council said that the old regulations were updated to adapt to the needs of the modern society.

Venice had earlier introduced a long list of measures over the last few years a move to deal with its overwhelming popularity.

In 2017 Venice’s#EnjoyRespectVeneziacamaign  strictly warned that tourists were welcomed but only if they acted as per the rules.

There were instructions not to swim in canals, make picnic stops out of public areas, pause too long on bridges, drop litter, ride or wheel bikes, stand or lie on benches, busk or make art without permit,attach ‘love locks’ to monuments and bridges, climb on trees, buildings and monuments. Making too much noise, get changed in public, feed birds or sight see topless or in swimwear was also forbidden.

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