In the international imagination, Venice is everything Italian travel dreams are made of: a magical canal city of gondolas, awe-inspiring architecture, a never-ending flow of local wine. In reality, it increasingly looks more like giant crowds of tourists coming off of cruise ships to flood St. Mark’s Square, with food options that are far from authentic. But that last part might be changing. In a new law passed Thursday, Venetian authorities banned the opening of any new fast food restaurants or "kebab shops."
“The problem is that with a tourist city like ours, there is a risk of it losing its identity. There are local products that we must try to promote, this would be better for the spirit of the city and, at an environmental level, would be more sustainable,” Paola Mar, Venice’s tourism chief, told The Guardian.
Meanwhile, businesses that are already operating will be allowed to stay open but now have to comply with new regulations. Mar added: “We want to put the brakes on types of activities which are not compatible with the preservation and development of Venice’s cultural heritage.” And yes, that means pizza by the slice.
The move is part of a larger effort to address the strain put on Venice by huge numbers of tourists. The city sees 60,000 visitors a day and Mayor Luigi Brugnaro—who campaigned on a promise to crack down on those numbers—recently unveiled new regulations, including monitoring numbers in the most popular areas of the city, as a way to get the crowds under control. Last year, Verona also halted the opening of new "kebab" shops, and Florence recently made a rule that restaurants in the city center must ensure 70 percent of all food served is local.
Eating to-go food in St. Mark’s Square is currently prohibited (as is feeding the pigeons) and offenders can be slapped with hefty fines; but Mar noted there are plans in the works to build picnic areas away from the city’s most popular attractions (good news considering the deliciousness of Italy’s street food scene).
The only eateries spared from the new law? Restaurants selling artisanal ice cream.
Yet while we're glad we'll still be able to stroll along the canal with gelato in-hand, we still prefer savoring a sardèle in saòr and a spritzer over fast food any day. Better to continue following the locals' lead when it comes to finding lunch.
