'Shameful' tourists anger locals after frolicking in unsanitary Venice canal

Two tourists risk being banned from Venice after they were filmed swimming in front of its best-known cemetery. The pair were spotted stripping off in front of the San Michele in Isola on Wednesday morning.

They left their clothes in front of the Roman Catholic church and got into a lagoon to frolic in the murky water. Irked commuters filmed the men as their vaporetto [public water bus] passed them by.

The footage has since spread quickly on social media.

Venice's long-term residents are famously fed up with visitors, who outnumber the locals by 10 to one. One particularly common gripe is when visitors jump into the Italian city's unsanitary canals to cool off. In the process, they put their health at risk and make life difficult for the locals who commute by boat.

People who violate local laws on navigation safety by getting into the canals face fines and urban banning orders.

"Shameful. Rude. Ignorant," one woman criticised online. "No respect at all," another added. "I'm at a loss for words," someone else said.

"In other countries, they'd have been arrested, fined heavily, and then sent home with a boot," a fourth commented.

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Venice welcomes new rules to limit size of tourist groups

At the beginning of August, Venetians and visitors alike welcomed new rules introduced to limit the size of tourist groups in the latest effort to reduce overcrowding. Tourist parties will be capped at 25 people and guides will be barred from using loudspeakers to help the flow of pedestrians and make it more peaceful for residents.

"I think it's right," said 81-year-old local Edie Rubert.

"It would be better to reduce it more. Because you can't walk along the narrow canalside streets when these groups are there," she added, saying it was even worse when she needed to use her shopping trolley.

In April, Venice became the first city in the world to introduce a 5-euro payment system for visitors in an experiment aimed at dissuading daytrippers from arriving during peak periods.

Sebastian Fagarazzi, co-founder of the 'Venezia Autentica' (Authentic Venice) Tourist Enterprise, said more action was needed. "It's probably a good decision in that regard, but it's not going to be enough. Tourism in Venice has pushed out 72 per cent of the inhabitants in the past 70 years, so 28 per cent only remain today," he said.

Jam Press/Reuters

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