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Italy has been one of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus , but also one of the first to launch its borders in search of tourists who can somehow improve the battered economy of the Alpine state after the pandemic . Not surprisingly, tourism represents 13% of its Gross Domestic Product and employs 13% of the workforce across the country. Even so, most of the members of the European Union still keep their doors closed, while Italy has opened them wide.

One of the cities that has most noticed this opening has been Venice, which, receiving 30 million tourists a year, saw its alleys empty during the pandemic. To the extent that its waters recovered the original turquoise blue of decades ago and ducks and all kinds of fish reappeared roaming freely among the channels.

However, in recent days travelers have started to appear again (see video above) to the chagrin of much of the population, fed up with the fact that their city has become a kind of theme park. The protests and flash mobs (actions choreographed in public spaces) against have continued to occur among neighbors under the slogan "Venice is not Disney."

Flight of the local population

They do not want La Serenísima to return to what it was before the coronavirus, a city besieged by tourism to the point of endangering its own existence at the risk of sinking. For this reason, a large part of its inhabitants have chosen to abandon the city, living in nearby areas, but returning to work every day, tired of not being able to take a single step through its crowded streets.

It is not the first time that complaints against outrageous tourism in the city have surfaced, since more than a dozen protests have taken place with great repercussions in the country. Much of the blame lies with cruise ships , since, according to figures from the Italian Port Authority, from April to October (high season) about 32,000 passengers disembark daily in Venice, where just 50,000 inhabitants live.

A gondolier on the canals of the Italian city.

Before these figures, the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure was forced a few months ago to divert a third of the ships that arrived in the center (mainly through the Giudecca and San Marco) to other terminals in Fusina and Lombardy to limit the entry of tourists. There was even talk of the possibility of holding a public consultation to solve the problem of long-term cruises .

Against "touristization"

In this way, Venice leads the movement against the excessive "touristisation" of cities made up of about twenty, including several Spanish such as Barcelona or Seville. They demand another sustainable management model that prioritizes the needs of the local population, such as housing. In this sense, they are against not only the number of cruises, but also the proliferation of tourist apartments, to which they blame the increase in the price of housing.

To deal with these criticisms, the Mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, decided to limit tourist access to the city in high season through controls at Piazza Roma and in front of the Church of the Barefoot. In principle, they are only used at specific times, such as bridges or parties such as carnivals, one of the most famous in the world, suspended this year by the coronavirus. Against this background, the question is: will Venice survive its own success or will it end up dying for it?

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