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‘Selfies and ignorance’: Italy’s Colosseum director slams badly-behaved tourists

A spate of incidents of vandalism at Rome's Colosseum has prompted the site's director to criticise tourists who “lack knowledge” about the site and are more interested in “taking selfies”.

Published: 17 July 2023 17:17 CEST
'Selfies and ignorance': Italy's Colosseum director slams badly-behaved tourists
Rome's Colosseum has seen an increasing number of reports of vandalism and defacement by tourists in recent years. (Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP)

The Colosseum archaeological park’s director Alfonsina Russo said on Monday that such acts of vandalism at the site were caused by “ignorance”.

READ ALSO: Anger in Italy as another tourist caught carving initials into Rome’s Colosseum

“There is a lack of civic education about heritage. There is a lack of a priori knowledge of what people are visiting,” Russo said in an interview with newspaper Il Messaggero on Monday.

“We have signs everywhere [detailing the laws against vandalism], on the website and on site, but only a minority read them,” she said.

“The will of the tourist-vandal is to leave their own mark, because we are by now a society oriented towards ourselves

“See the 25,000 tourists who visit the Colosseum every day who are primarily interested in taking selfies,” she said.

A 17-year-old German tourist was the latest to be reported for allegedly damaging brickwork at the site on Saturday by scratching the walls, just one day after a 17-year-old Swiss visitor was caught on camera doing the same.

Less than a month earlier, a 27-year-old Bulgarian fitness instructor had sparked outrage across Italy by carving “Ivan+Hayley 23” into an inner wall at the Unesco Heritage Site.

He later admitted in a letter of apology to Rome’s mayor that he had not been aware of “the antiquity of the monument”.

In the last six years, the number of people charged with ‘defacement of cultural heritage’ has increased steadily, though many more cases likely went undetected, reported Il Messaggero.

Anyone found guilty of causing damage to a site of historical and artistic interest in Italy can face a fine of up to €15,000 and even a prison sentence of up to five years.

Russo noted that parliament was set to give the green light to a new draft law making these penalties harsher.

Ministers in April gave preliminary approval to plans to increase the maximum fine for defacing cultural property to €40,000, while anyone damaging or destroying monuments could be fined up to €60,000, with possible prison terms of up to seven years.

Member comments

  1. i’d love to see these vandals get hit with heavy fines.. they seem to only get a slap on the wrist.. one person fined €15,000 would surely make a big difference in terms of reducing potential for future vandalism..

  2. It’s not a “lack of prior knowledge”, it is purely arrogance, a don’t take care attitude and a mindless shot for insta and likes. These morons who deface monuments should be fined heavily, then kicked out of the country. Only heavy fines and loss of their tourist money with being shown the exit is going to deter these idiots.

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TRAVEL NEWS

Why are flight prices higher in Italy than the rest of Europe this summer?

A recent analysis found that fares for flights between European countries have decreased on average this summer - but mysteriously, Italy is bucking the trend.

Published: 17 June 2024 12:02 CEST
Why are flight prices higher in Italy than the rest of Europe this summer?

Italy may be at the start of a summer tourism boom, but that’s no thanks to the cost of its airline tickets, which are higher than ever this year.

According to a recent analysis in Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, intra-Europe fares from June to September 2024 are down three percent on average compared to the same period last year – but Italy’s flight costs have risen.

The average price of a summer flight between Italy and the rest of Europe has increased by seven percent since 2023, data shows, while domestic flights cost as much as 21 percent more.

Corriere doesn’t offer much of an explanation for the hikes, though says industry sources say it could be down to demand being higher than anticipated.

READ ALSO: How Europe’s new EES border checks will impact flight passengers

It’s true that supply chain issues have reduced the available fleet of global aircraft at a time when the appetite for international travel is as high as ever – but this is an industry-wide problem that shouldn’t disproportionately affect Italy.

Carmelo Calì, the vice president of consumer rights watchdog Confconsumatori, suggested in a recent interview that the main culprit is a lack of healthy competition in the Italian market.

“Despite what is said to the contrary, in our country companies often find themselves operating at airports practically alone,” Calì told consumer publication Il Salvagente (The Lifejacket).

“Even when there is competition, prices remain high, because the race is upwards and not downwards.”

The high price of Italy’s domestic flights have been a point of contention for years, with consumer unions long complaining that fares for tickets between mainland Italy and the major islands are exorbitant.

Italy’s Price Surveillance Guarantor Benedetto Mineo, who officially goes by Mister Prezzi (‘Mr. Prices’), last summer called on the seven main airlines operating in Italy to account for a 40 percent annual increase in the cost of some key domestic routes.

READ ALSO: Why two Swiss to Italy flight routes are ‘the most turbulent’ in Europe

This was followed by the government announcing a price cap on flights connecting Sardinia and Sicily to the Italian mainland – that it promptly shelved just one month later, after budget carrier Ryanair led a furious pushback by low cost airlines.

“Here companies believe they have freedom that they don’t have elsewhere, convinced they can get away with it, while in the rest of Europe they fear being punished,” said Calì.

That may explain why the EU’s competition watchdog has been so slow to approve a proposed partial takeover of Italy’s national flag carrier ITA by Germany airline Lufthansa.

The Commission has repeatedly insisted that Lufthansa must give away a certain number of its slots at Milan’s Linate airport in compliance with EU competition rules in order for the deal to go ahead.

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