Swimming in an Italian fountain can result in a hefty fine
The minimum list of rules includes: not eating or drinking on the grounds of ancient and sacred buildings and ruins, not swimming in fountains and canals, not walking through cities in beachwear, not having picnics, using toilets, or sleeping in city parks. As "Russkaya Germaniya" notes, most bans are enacted by local authorities and are not communicated to visitors.
For a long time, local law enforcement ignores the restrictions, then – quite unexpectedly – begins to zealously demand compliance with local laws. Now is just such a time of strictness: for example, the other day on the pine-tree-lined beach of Barcola near Trieste, a 52-year-old Austrian tourist was fined 300 euros for hanging a hammock between two trees and falling asleep in it. It turns out that Article 36 of the local "Rules for the Treatment of Green Spaces" prohibits "attaching structures of any type to bushes and trees."
It is unlikely that the guest from the Alpine republic was familiar with these rules, but the vacationer had to pay the fine. Many – especially young locals – thought the punishment was excessive. After the event was reported in local news, organized groups of Italian youth gathered on the beach under the slogan "Freedom for hammocks!" and hung "structures of various types" on bushes and trees.
Not every act – or rather, barbaric stunt – by tourists can count on understanding from locals. For example, they watched with wide-eyed astonishment as two guests of Venice from Berlin with backpacks settled on the Grand Canal right under the Rialto Bridge to light a gas burner and brew coffee for a picnic. They didn't watch for long: police called to the scene fined the 35-year-old man with the coffee maker 650 euros and his 32-year-old companion 300 euros. Moreover, the Berlin couple was ordered to leave Venice immediately.
A few days earlier, a Canadian tourist sunbathing in a bikini on the grounds of the Giardini Papadopoli by the same Grand Canal was fined 250 euros. Luigi Brugnaro, the mayor of Venice – a city with a population of 54,000 that receives an average of 82,000 tourists daily – defended the law enforcement officers criticized for draconian fines: "Venice must be respected. Ill-mannered people who do not know how to behave and think they can get away with anything in our city should be prepared to pay a fine and leave immediately."
Equally strict rules are in effect this summer in Rome. Apparently, the right to swim in the Trevi Fountain was granted only to Anita Ekberg, the star of Fellini's "La Dolce Vita": a Spanish tourist who climbed into the Baroque-era monument had to pay 500 euros. Moreover, the guest of the Eternal City was dressed as a centurion and brandishing a plastic sword. And dressing up in ancient costumes has been banned in Rome for about a year now. Thus, authorities are trying to combat living decorations that make money from tourists who love imperial "selfies."
Raids against enterprising "ancient Romans" are irregular, and the Spaniard apparently caught law enforcement at a bad time. A slightly smaller sum – 300 euros – was added to the Roman treasury by a guest from Austria who was collecting coins thrown en masse by tourists into the same Trevi Fountain: under local laws, that money belongs to the city.