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Tourists fined €900 for washing feet in Roman fountain

Two Danish tourists have been hit by fines of 450 euros apiece after stopping to wash their feet in one of Rome's public fountains.

Published: 18 April 2017 11:53 CEST

Tourists fined €900 for washing feet in Roman fountain

Piazza Venezia's Altare della Patria, where the tourists were stopped. Photo: Terrazzo/Flickr

Local police stopped the pair – a woman aged 60 and a 17-year-old boy – on Easter Sunday at the Fountain of the Two Seas.

The monument is located in the central Piazza Venezia, close to the Colosseum and Roman Forum.

The tourists had been sitting on the side of the fountain, their legs submerged “up to their knees” in order to cool off from the spring heat, city authorities said.

“When asked for ID, the two tourists were surprised, convinced that a 'footbath' was allowed,” the city hall said in a statement. “The woman, very annoyed by the steep penalty, said that she would protest at the Danish Embassy.”

The arrest came after an Italian was arrested for taking a nude swim in the iconic Trevi fountain on Wednesday, where police presence has been stepped up and fines for trespassing increased following a 2 million euro restoration of the landmark.

Since January, there have already been ten violations of rules preventing trespassing in Italy's fountains, following 48 such crimes last year.

Security in the capital was beefed up over the Easter weekend, with extra officers stationed at Rome's ports, train stations, and airports as well as at popular tourist sites ahead of the holiday.

READ ALSO: Ten stupid things tourists have done in Italy

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Italy's Liguria regional president arrested in corruption probe

Liguria President Giovanni Toti, a right-wing former MEP who was close to late prime minister Silvio Berlusconi but is no longer party aligned, was placed under house arrest, Genoa prosecutors said in a statement.

The 55-year-old is accused of having accepted 74,100 euros in funds for his election campaign between December 2021 and March 2023 from prominent local businessmen, Aldo Spinelli and his son Roberto Spinelli, in return for various favours.

These allegedly included seeking to privatise a public beach and speeding up the renewal for 30 years of the lease of a Genoa port terminal to a Spinelli family-controlled company, which was approved in December 2021.

A total of 10 people were targeted in the probe, also including Paolo Emilio Signorini, who stepped down last year as head of the Genoa Port Authority, one of the largest in Italy. He was being held in jail on Tuesday.

He is accused of having accepted from Aldo Spinelli benefits including cash, 22 stays in a luxury hotel in Monte Carlo – complete with casino chips, massages and beauty treatments – and luxury items including a 7,200-euro Cartier bracelet.

The ex-port boss, who went on to lead energy group Iren, was also promised a 300,000-euro-a-year job when his tenure expires, prosecutors said.

In return, Signorini was said to have granted Aldo Spinelli favours including also working to speed up the renewal of the family’s port concession.

The Spinellis are themselves accused of corruption, with Aldo – an ex-president of the Genoa and Livorno football clubs – placed under house arrest and his son Roberto temporarily banned from conducting business dealings.

In a separate strand of the investigation, Toti’s chief of staff, Matteo Cozzani, was placed under house arrest accused of “electoral corruption” which facilitated the activities of Sicily’s Cosa Nostra Mafia.

As regional coordinator during local elections in 2020, he was accused of promising jobs and public housing in return for the votes of at least 400 Sicilian residents of Genoa.

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