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‘Truly foolish’: Row erupts over planned anti-tourist barrier at Rome’s Trevi Fountain

A plan to build a barrier around Rome's Trevi Fountain has attracted heavy criticism from arts and heritage experts since being approved by the city council last week.

Published: 28 January 2020 16:57 CET
'Truly foolish': Row erupts over planned anti-tourist barrier at Rome's Trevi Fountain
Photo: AFP

It's hoped that a one-metre-high glass and steel barrier around the famous Roman landmark would stop tourists from sitting on or swimming in it, according to the council motion approved on Friday.

READ ALSO: From selfie brawls to midnight swims: Tourists behaving badly at the Trevi Fountain

But experts have voiced dismay over the plan, calling it “foolish” and saying it would ruin the view of the monument.

“Installing a barrier seems a frightful offence against the beauty of a masterpiece which gives itself generously to those who observe it,” architect and historian Paolo Portoghesi told Italian media.

He added that he finds the plan “truly foolish”, and said it would be enough to have police on patrol at the tourist hotspot.

“If they are not used for specific dangers, gates are follies that destroy the sense of the city,” he added. “Rome has always sought a direct relationship with those who live there and those who visit it.”

Rome's former archaeological superintendent Adriano La Regina added: “As far as the Trevi Fountain is concerned, you have to see it. If tourists aren't standing or sitting in an unseemly way, and do not get in the way of visiting the fountain, why drive them away?”

Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP

Rome mayor Virginia Raggi defended the plan in a Facebook post, saying it was “common sense” and that the barrier “would not obscure the view of the Trevi Fountain, and would allow the traditional tossing of coins, a ritual for anyone who visits our city.”

Raggi added that the barrier would be similar to existing barriers protecting Roman fountains such as at the Fountain of the Four Rivers by Bernini in Piazza Navona.

READ ALSO: 15 strange ways to get into trouble on holiday in Italy 

The official motion also called for action against unauthorised street sellers hawking goods in the surrounding streets piazzas.

Raggi claimed the barrier would free up police offers' time and let them focus on tackling illegal street trading.

The motion urged “continuous patrols” in areas including the Roman Forum, the shopping areas of Via del Corso, Via del Babuino and Via Condotti, and the Spanish Steps at Piazza di Spagna

“There must be respect for the symbolic parts of Roma Capitale,” the motion stated.

The city banned tourists from sitting on the Trevi Fountain, and other city fountains, around a year ago as part of a raft of new rules against bad behaviour in the city, but police haven't always been able to enforce these rules.

Tourists were also specifically warned against swimming in the fountains during hot weather last July. Anyone caught doing so can face a fine of up to 450 euros.

Despite this, many people still climb on the fountain, wash their feet in it, or take a dip in it in hot weather, with some attempting to recreate the famous scene between Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita.

Photo: Vincenzo Pinto/AFP

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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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