Welcome to Venice. That’ll Be 5 Euros, Please.

Europe|Welcome to Venice. That’ll Be 5 Euros, Please.

Pulling into the Santa Lucia bid presumption successful Venice connected Thursday morning, passengers were told via an overhead announcement that they mightiness person to wage a five-euro interest to entree the city’s historical center. Failure to wage could effect successful a good from “50 to 300 euro,” the announcement said.

Outside the station, constabulary officers successful riot cogwheel lingered, portion a flock of assistants successful colorful information vests stopped arriving travelers to guarantee that they had a QR codification indicating that they had registered to sojourn connected a metropolis website. Those who hadn’t were directed to a booth wherever they could. After registering, overnight visitors were sent connected their mode without paying, but radical readying to enactment conscionable for the time were charged (though determination were different exemptions).

It was a caller invited to Venice, the archetypal metropolis successful the satellite to complaint time visitors a nominal entranceway fee, a measurement metropolis officials anticipation volition assistance antagonistic overtourism.

“I lone recovered retired due to the fact that my spouse texted maine this greeting to accidental it was happening,” said Lorraine Colcher, a infirmary head from Wirral, England, successful enactment astatine the booth. “I thought helium was joking.”

And she didn’t deliberation that radical should person to wage for the privilege of seeing a “beautiful metropolis that everyone wants to visit,” she said.

Not acold from the station, hundreds of protesters were making a batch of noise. For them, charging an entranceway interest was a worrisome measurement successful bringing Venice person to what galore fearfulness the metropolis volition go if tides don’t turn: a taxable park. Blowing whistles, they handed retired fake tickets reading, “Welcome to Veniceland.” Some held signs saying, “Venice is not for sale” and “Stick It To The Ticket,” and chanted, “We privation to instrumentality backmost our city.”