Tourists who want to visit the city of Venice will have to pay 25 euros starting from April 5.
Authorities in Venice have been accused of turning the famous lagoon city into a “theme park” with the introduction of a long-debated entrance fee for day visitors.
Venice became the first major city in the world to implement such a practice. The €5 fee, which comes into effect today, aims to protect the Unesco world heritage site from the effects of overtourism by discouraging day-trippers and make the city “livable” again, according to Mayor Luigi Brugnaro.
But some residents' committees and associations planned protests for Thursday, arguing the fee would do nothing to solve the problem.
Matteo Secchi, leader of the activist group Venessia.com, consisting of city residents, said: “I can say that almost the entire city is against this. You can't impose an entrance fee on a city; All they do is turn it into a theme park. “This is a bad image for Venice… I mean, are we kidding?” he said.
Once the heart of a powerful maritime republic, Venice's main island has lost more than 1950 inhabitants since the early 120s; The main reason for these losses is the focus on mass tourism, which has led to a depopulation by the thousands of visitors who fill its squares, bridges and narrow walkways during the busiest times of the year.
The entrance fee, which is only required to enter Venice's historic centre, can be booked online and will be charged on 14 busy days, mostly weekends, from Thursday to 29 July as part of a trial phase.
Venice residents, commuters, students, children under the age of 14, and tourists staying overnight will be exempt from this practice.
However, day trippers will need to purchase their tickets online and will then be given a QR code. Those who do not have a ticket will be able to purchase one on arrival with the help of local officials who will carry out random checks at five main destinations, including Santa Lucia train station. Those who do not have a ticket may be fined between 50 and 300 Euros.