‘Shameful’ tourists swim at Venice cemetery as tensions with locals rise: ‘At a loss for words’
Tourists in Europe have once again outraged locals with their uncouth behavior — this time, taking a dip in front of a cemetery in Venice.
Two men, who were spotted by commuters on a water bus in the Italian city, left their clothes in front of the San Michele Cemetery last week and entered the murky water.
Isola di San Michele, which consists of a cemetery and church, is an island in the Venetian Lagoon, located between Venice and Murano.
Tourists are drawn to the island to see the graves of well-known people, including famous Russian-born composer Igor Stravinsky.
One Venetian labeled the behavior “Shameful. Rude. Ignorant,” while another, who agreed it was poor, said the tourists had “no respect at all.”
“I’m at a loss for words,” a third wrote.
“In other countries, they’d have been arrested, fined heavily, and then sent home with a boot,” argued a fourth.
People are only allowed to swim in certain areas of Venice, such as public beaches, and not the canals or other bodies of water in the city’s residential areas, because of both boats and unsanitary conditions.
You can be fined and banned from the city for doing so.
Tensions are already high between tourists and locals in the Italian holiday hotspot.
It is widely acknowledged there is a major problem with tourism in Venice, but how to deal with it is a contentious matter.
For the first time this year, Venice introduced an $8 entry fee for day trippers during the peak season. Tourist groups have also been capped at 25 people.
Venice isn’t the only city facing concerns of overtourism, with holiday hotspots across the world looking desperately for new ways to cope with a massive boom in tourism post-COVID.
In the meantime, locals are getting fed up.
Last month, visitors dining in the Spanish city of Barcelona were squirted with water pistols, and a tourist was slammed as an “absolute disgrace” for climbing a statue to perform lewd poses in Florence, Italy.
Pictures of the woman with a statue of Bacchus, the Roman god of wine, were shared on the “Welcome to Florence” Instagram page, which has more than 200,000 followers.
In one image, the woman had her legs wrapped around the statue’s waist and arms around his neck as she appeared to kiss him.
In a second image, the woman was bent over with her behind pressed against the statue.
“This is the result of years of trying to turn Florence into Disney World,” one top comment read.
“Yuck, Florence is becoming a circus,” wrote another offended local.
Oslo, Norway, has cleverly used the issue of crowding in other European cities to its advantage.
Its latest tourism ad stars an expressionless 31-year-old resident named Halfdan who claims the Norway capital feels more like a village than a city.
“If you don’t have to stand in line for a couple of hours, is it even worth seeing?” he says while visiting a museum.
Turning to dining, Halfdan complains: “Sometimes I just walk right in off the street and get a table, and I’m not even famous. I mean, what does that tell you?”
