The Uffizi museum in Florence, the most visited cultural site in Italy with more than 2 million entries, announced Tuesday to raise the price of the entrance ticket to cushion the increase in its heating and electricity bills. The decision sparked backlash in the country.
From March 1 to November 30, during the high season, the price of the individual ticket to visit the Gallery of Statues and Paintings will be increased from 20 to 25 euros.
This measure, supported “mainly by foreign tourists”, will make it possible “to cope with the increase in costs in the energy and building sector”, justify the Offices in a press release. The Uffizi’s energy expenditure soared 180% in 2022 compared to 2021, the museum said.
A policy at the national level
This is a “serious error”, according to the art historian and rector of the University for Foreigners of Siena Tomaso Montanari, interviewed in La Stampa. “The state must intervene so that the cost of the crisis is not passed on to citizens,” he said.
As for the director general of the Italian state museums, Massimo Osanna, he believes that the ticketing policy should be concerted at national level.
“The Uffizi is one of the few museums that will not be affected by high energy costs, because they have considerable resources, he believes. The problem is that it is the less visited ones that suffer. We are working on it .”
A “fair” decision
To justify themselves, the Offices recall the prices charged in other museums around the world: 25 dollars at the MoMa in New York, 30 dollars at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York or 24 pounds at the National Gallery in London.
Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano hailed a “fair” decision. “We have to align ourselves with European practices,” he commented. “The increase also responds to a so to speak ‘moral’ problem: for an American family who spends 10,000 to 20,000 euros to come to Italy, paying 20 euros for a museum ticket is within their reach”, a- he added.
Reaction in Parliament
The controversy rebounded in Parliament. “It was not enough for this government to raise the prices of petrol, energy and the shopping cart…Now the cost of museum tickets is also rising. The government is acting ignoring the right to culture of the most fragile Italian families and the middle class, who also has the right to culture,” said MEP Anna Laura Orrico, leader of the 5 Star Movement group in the Culture Committee.
Consumer associations are also opposed to what appears to be “a punishment for Italians”. According to them, “the increase has so far been applied to the most popular museums”.
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