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TOURISM

Eight things you should know about Rome’s Spanish Steps

The Spanish steps are one of Rome's most popular tourist sites. But how much do you know about the famous landmark?

Published: 23 September 2016 08:51 CEST
Updated: 31 August 2018 11:09 CEST
Eight things you should know about Rome's Spanish Steps
The newly-restored Spanish Steps in Rome. Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP

Many a tourist has grumbled that they are 'just steps' – but this staircase is an institution in Rome.

Here's everything you need to know about Italy's most famous steps.

1. There are exactly 135 steps

However, if you try to count them yourself you may reach the figure of 136; the drainage system is elevated and so is often mistaken for the first step. Also, the steps are the widest stairway in all of Europe – making them a perfect meeting place.

2. Why 'Spanish'?

It may seem odd that a landmark in Italy's capital, designed by an Italian architect and funded by a French diplomat (Étienne Gueffier, whose bequest of 20,000 Scudi – an old Italian currency), gets its name from Spain.

The Piazza di Spagna at the foot of the steps is named after the Spanish Embassy there, so the name simply extended to the steps, which were built in the 18th century to connect both the Embassy and the Trinita dei Monti church (which was under French patronage) with the Holy See – the seat of the Catholic Church in Rome – in the square below.

3. You can't eat your sandwiches there

They're a popular meeting place, but no food allowed. Photo: AFP

In the middle of the city's shopping district, the steps may seem like a perfect place to pause for a picnic – but not so fast. Roman urban regulations prevent anyone from tucking into lunch on the steps, as part of an effort to keep them pristine. After the latest restoration, you can expect this rule to be even more vigorously enforced.

4. English influences

British poet John Keats once lived in the building adjacent to the steps – now the Keats & Shelley museum, which is memorabilia about the English Romantics poets in Italy and is well worth a visit for poetry fans. And to the left of the steps you'll find Babington's, an English tea room which has been serving tea to locals and homesick Brits since 1893.

5. A controversial McDonald's

You may stop for a bite at Italy's first McDonald's restaurant after visiting the steps. This restaurant, opened in 1986, led to protests by locals who argued fervently that the American chain had no place in Rome's historic centre.

The protests in turn led to the birth of Italy's Slow Food movement – now an international organization counting 100,000 members worldwide and promoting alternatives to fast food.

6. Pop culture influence

The steps hit the big screen in Audrey Hepburn film A Roman Holiday, where the steps' status as a popular meeting place made them the perfect location for Gregory Peck's character to 'accidentally' bump into Hepburn. They've also been mentioned in a Bob Dylan song and featured in an Everybody Loves Raymond episode.

7. An ugly boat

The fountain at the foot of the steps is called 'Fontana della Barcaccia' or Fountain of the Ugly Boat. But why? A city legend says the fountain was built on papal orders, inspired by a flood which carried a fishing boat all the way to the square.

8. Seasonal decor

Time your visit right, and you could get to see some of the Spanish Steps' seasonal decorations. In spring, the stairway is decorated with pink azaleas for a month, celebrating the anniversary of Rome's founding. As Christmas approaches, a 19th century crib is displayed on the first level of the steps.

They have also been used for other one-off events; the fall of the Berlin Wall was marked with a multimedia event and replicas of parts of the wall on the steps, for example, and the re-opening ceremony after the steps' renovation saw light shows and musical performances.

 

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TRAVEL NEWS

Why are fewer British tourists visiting Spain this year?

Almost 800,000 fewer UK holidaymakers have visited Spain in 2023 when compared to 2019. What’s behind this big drop?

Published: 23 August 2023 11:36 CEST
Updated: 26 August 2023 18:32 CEST
Why are fewer British tourists visiting Spain this year?

Spain welcomed 12.2 million UK tourists between January and July 2023, 6 percent less when compared to the same period in 2019, according to data released on Monday by Spanish tourism association Turespaña.

This represents a decrease of 793,260 British holidaymakers for Spain so far this year.

Conversely, the number of Italian (+8 percent), Irish (+15.3 percent), Portuguese (+24.8 percent), Dutch (+4 percent) and French tourists (+5 percent) visiting España in 2023 are all above the rates in 2019, the last pre-pandemic year. 

German holidaymakers are together with their British counterparts the two main nationalities showing less interest in coming to Spanish shores.

Britons still represent the biggest tourist group that comes to Spain, but it’s undergoing a slump, with another recent study by Caixabank Research suggesting numbers fell particularly in June 2023 (-12.5 percent of the usual rate). 

READ ALSO: Spain fully booked for summer despite most expensive holiday prices ever

So are some Britons falling out of love with Spain? Are there clear reasons why a holiday on the Spanish coast is on fewer British holiday itineraries?

According to Caixabank Research’s report, the main reasons are “the poor macroeconomic performance of the United Kingdom, the sharp rise in rates and the weakness of the pound”.

This is evidenced in the results of a survey by British market research company Savanta, which found that one in six Britons are not going on a summer holiday this year due to the UK’s cost-of-living crisis.

Practically everything, everywhere has become more expensive, and that includes holidays in Spain: hotel stays are up 44 percent, eating out is 13 percent pricier, and flights are 40 percent more on average. 

READ ALSO: How much more expensive is it to holiday in Spain this summer?

Caixabank stressed that another reason for the drop in British holidaymakers heading to Spain is that those who can afford a holiday abroad are choosing “more competitive markets” such as Turkey, Greece and Portugal. 

And there’s no doubt that the insufferably hot summer that Spain is having, with four heatwaves so far, has also dissuaded many holidaymakers from Blighty from overcooking in the Spanish sun. 

With headlines such as “This area of Spain could become too hot for tourists” or “tourists say it’s too hot to see any sights” featuring in the UK press, budding British holidaymakers are all too aware of the suffocating weather conditions Spain and other Mediterranean countries are enduring. 

Other UK outlets have urged travellers to try out the cooler Spanish north rather than the usual piping hot Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol destinations.

Another UK poll by InsureandGo found that 71 percent of the 2,000+ British respondents thought that parts of Europe such as Spain, Greece and Turkey will be too hot to visit over summer by 2027.

There’s further concern that the introduction in 2024 of the new (and delayed) ETIAS visa for non-EU visitors, which of course now also applies to UK nationals, could further compel British tourists to choose countries to holiday in rather than Spain.

READ MORE: Will British tourists need to pay for a visa waiver to enter Spain?

However, a drop in the number of British holidaymakers may not be all that bad for Spain, even though they did spend over €17 billion on their Spanish vacations in 2022. 

Towns, cities and islands across the country have been grappling with the problem of overtourism and the consequences it has on everything from quality of life for locals to rent prices. 

READ ALSO: ‘Beach closed’ – Fake signs put up in Spain’s Mallorca to dissuade tourists

The overcrowded nature of Spain’s beaches and most beautiful holiday hotspots appears to be one of the reasons why Germans are visiting Spain in far fewer numbers. A recent report in the country’s most read magazine Stern asked “if the dream is over” in their beloved Mallorca.

Spanish authorities are also seeking to overhaul the cheaper holiday package-driven model that dominates many resorts, which includes moving away from the boozy antics of young British and other European revellers.

Fewer tourists who spend more are what Spain is theoretically now looking for, and the rise in American, Japanese and European tourists other than Brits signify less of a dependence on the British market, one which tends to maintain the country’s tourism status quo for better or for worse.

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