REPORTAGE
The festivities for the Venice Carnival, which should have ended on Tuesday, have simply been canceled. The coronavirus epidemic is hitting Italy hard, where the number of patients exploded in a few days, going from 6 to more than 150, when three people died. The country is trying by all means to contain the virus. Eleven cities have been quarantined in the Milan area. All entries and exits are prohibited unless otherwise provided. And in Venice, therefore, the carnival had to lower the curtain earlier than expected on Sunday instead of Tuesday. The streets of the city of the Doges are unusually empty.
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Beside the gondolas which have remained at the quay, many tourists leave the city with their suitcases. It is not a Venetian mask that they wear on the face, but a protective mask. "The atmosphere is not the same compared to usual," says this French tourist, used to Carnival. "I have been coming for several years. We see masks, but we see that they are rather masks for private balls, regulars in Venice," she continues.
"We still hope to at least meet well-dressed, masked people"
"Suddenly, I am a little disappointed to learn when we arrive that there will surely be no festivities," said another Frenchwoman, a bit disillusioned. "We will find out, we still hope to at least meet well-dressed, masked people. We will see…"
For professionals too, this cancellation is a new disaster, after the exceptional "acqua alta" of a few weeks ago. "Already in November, we had a lot of cancellations because of the floods," confirms Luigi, manager of the Bellini hotel. "And now, with this coronavirus problem, we still have a lot of people who don't come. We have a 45% turnover until the end of the week."
But the carnival is not the only one affected. Schools in the area will be closed for one week. And the sports meetings have all been canceled.