9 minutes agoTourists box Venice
Periskopi(9 years ago)
(9 years ago)Emotions abound in Venice, the famous Italian city of awe - inspiring visitors from around the world. Venice is still known as “La serenissima”, the quietest and once the local population lived in miracles with visitors who were mostly intellectuals, writers and artists. But, now, it's hard to imagine it [...]
But now, it's hard to imagine that happy coexistence when you wander through over-frequent channels and talk to local residents.
Depopulation and massive tourism have long been the cause of a despair of local residents. But this summer it seems to be reaching its peak.
About 2 thousand Venetians marched days ago against the tourism industry, which, they believe, has ruined their quality of life, is damaging the environment and driving away residents.
Venice's population has dropped from 175, after World War II to 55 thousand currently. Long ago, getting a boat to get through the city canals was far from stressful, but that is not the case today.
Exasperated by sticks helping make selphie, the luggage you see everywhere, or the people eating over one of the 391 bridges in the city, the resentment of the Venetians with 28 million visitors coming to town each year is reaching alarming levels.
Residents themselves say the main problem is mass tourism, people coming to the city for only a few hours and seeing nothing.
Meanwhile, large tourist ships anchored on the Giudecca channel four or five times a day, apart from ejecting large amounts of smoke, launch as many as 44,000 visitors per day.
With its carnival, the International Film Festival and the Bienenalen of Art, Venice has an early history of tourism cultivation, and the industry brings millions of euros into the ark each year provides many jobs. The city now seems to be no longer able to live with him, but not without him...
