Turnstiles have been installed in Venice to regulate tourist flows
According to the authorities, this measure will allow them to control and direct tourist flows to prevent excessive crowding in certain places. Earlier, the city council decided to set numerical limits on tourists. For example, for the central St. Mark's Square, a limit of 65,000 people per day has been set.
As Vinegret.cz notes, Venice is visited by up to 30 million tourists a year, while the number of local residents has more than tripled over the past half century – from 175,000 to 56,000 people. The main reason why Venetians leave the city is the huge number of tourists and the infrastructure built for them.
Recall that associations and activist groups from 14 southern European cities have created a network to join forces in the fight against mass tourism. Currently, the association includes 10 Spanish cities, including Madrid, Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca, as well as Portuguese Lisbon and Italian Venice. The network also includes the Spanish Canary Islands and Malta.
Recently, cities across Europe have stepped up efforts to shut down home-sharing services such as Airbnb because they drive up prices for local residents.
According to the World Tourism Organization, the number of tourists in the EU grew by 8% last year, reaching 538 million people, which accounts for 40% of the global tourist flow.