VENEZIA. For 29 days in 2024 Venice will have one entrance and one exit. The provision of the council provides for this Luigi Brugnaro on the access fee of 5 euros aimed at daily tourists, which started on April 25th amid doubts and protests and is now in its second day of testing. Until April 30th and for certain days until July, those visiting the city for the day will have to have a QR-code that can be downloaded (after paying) from the website www.cda.ve.it. On the portal there is also a long list of exemptions, starting from those under 14 up to those who reside in Veneto and many others. The code is requested by verifiers in certain places and at certain times, i.e. from 8.30 to 16. Those who enter early will not have to show any card or pay any tax.
The 10 thousand pilgrims and the Pope’s exemptions
For this reason, on Sunday 28th the 10 thousand pilgrims expected at 9am in San Marco for the Pope’s visit will be able to enter the city without paying, nor will they have to worry about showing documents during the day. For the most curious and mischievous: the Pope will not pay for any tickets. Concessions? No, the Municipality makes it known that it is amply justified: although he will be in Venice for a few hours, Ponfetice will also arrive before 8.30, he will arrive for “work” as Head of State of the Vatican. Furthermore, being the contact person for the Church, he also indirectly pays the IMU on the Curia’s properties. In short, he falls under more than one of the exemptions provided.
Venice, the entrance ticket debuts amid protests and controversy: 113 thousand arrivals with 15,700 paying tourists but no fines on the first day
by Vera Mantengoli
The streets clogged with tourists
Returning to the admission ticket. “We don’t claim to solve the problem of tourist flows immediately, but at least we are trying”, reiterates the budget councilor Michele Zuin to those who point out that yesterday, despite almost 16 thousand paying people, the city was full of tourists and the streets were clogged. «The aim is to understand who comes and then set a load threshold beyond which those coming to Venice will have to pay 10 euros».
All exempt
Yesterday, the first day, began with many protests and even today some members of the Circolo Arci distribute leaflets in all languages for an “Open City Venice”. Today, 22 thousand paying daily visitors are expected, plus 52 thousand exempt tourists as they reside in accommodation facilities and therefore have already paid the tourist tax, for a total of 75 thousand visitors, without counting the exemptions of the Venetians and the relatives and friends of the residents. Numbers on paper, people in the streets who are not discouraged by the tax.
The paid park and the museum city
There is a queue in the railway yard. Italians and foreigners queue at the gazebo set up to give information on the access fee. As soon as you exit the station, large colored totems indicate “entry” and “exit”, two words that make citizens and associations shudder and angry who criticize the measure because they claim that it transforms Venice into a paid park or a museum city.
“Houses and investments for those who live here, not taxes to raise cash”
“We need houses and investments for those who live here, not taxes to raise cash which solve nothing”, said various committees such as Venessia.com, Social Assembly for the House and Circolo Arci. The green totems are only reserved for residents, students and workers, the three categories of fixed exemptions, while the orange totems are for tourists. There are also blue totems for fast passes for those who have to take the vaporetto and go to the islands. In fact, those who go to Torcello and the so-called smaller islands (Murano and Burano) do not have to pay the ticket and can go directly to the boats.
Random checks
A trick for the crafty? For now, maybe. In the future, the verifiers, i.e. the staff who check the code and who for now are distributed at the access points in Piazzale Roma, in the station and in San Zaccaria where tourist launches arrive from the coast, could also carry out random checks in the city. Residents resent having to show their documents and many pass through checks without stopping. Many tourists arrive and don’t know what to do. Some verifiers let it pass, but almost everyone asks for the code. Will it be of any use? For the council it is a first step, for those who see the city crushed by tourism it will be of no use. In a city of 49 thousand residents, housing policies and more attention are being asked for those who live in a city imprisoned in a tourist monoculture.
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– 2024-04-30 03:30:59
