Kerry Parnell: Bad news for our Mediterranean-bound friends this euro summer

Anyone planning on visiting Europe over its summer might not receive a warm welcome — which could be sweet relief for those of us stuck at home watching our social media feeds, writes Kerry Parnell.

Anyone planning on visiting Europe over its summer, might not receive a warm welcome.

It’s less bienvenue/benvenuto/bienvenida and more au revoir/arrivederci/adios, as European destinations battle over-tourism. In the spirit of the upcoming Eurovision Song

Contest, many of us travellers, it seems, are receiving “nil points”.

This week, Venice began a toll system, charging day-visitors five euros to enter.

While the Italian city hasn’t installed turnstiles to get into the World Heritage Site, Disneyland-style, inspectors are conducting random checks and can fine you if you haven’t got a QR code on your phone.

The mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, told reporters, “No one has ever done this before. We are not closing the city... we are just trying to make it liveable.”

Around 20 million visitors went to Venice last year, according to officials. It only avoided making UNESCO’s dreaded World Heritage in Danger list, alongside Vienna, because of measures such as the entry fee and ban on large cruise ships.

A gondolier takes tourists through the canals of Venice, near San Marco Square. Now day-trippers need a five-euro ticket just to enter the city. Picture: Marco Bertorello / AFP

Although how a five-euro charge would put off people who have paid thousands to travel across the world to see the famous canals, I’m not sure. Especially as you’d pay more for a coffee in St Mark’s Square. I suspect all it will do is raise a lot of revenue.

Also in Italy, it’s reported Milan is proposing a bizarre ban on sales of ice-cream and pizza after midnight, to curb rowdy revellers.

Milan is proposing to ban the selling of ice cream and pizza after midnight.

I think we can all agree on this one – who doesn’t want to rid ourselves of the scourge of sorbet-slurpers on our streets? They are such a nuisance.

Meanwhile, Portofino has introduced a “no-loitering” rule to stop tourists taking selfies and congregating in popular zones, throughout the summer. Anyone caught hogging the highways can be fined.

Portofino has introduced a “no loitering” rule to stop tourists taking selfies. Picture: iStock

Look, influencers are irritating, but surely an officious shoo would work better than issuing a ticket?

Over in Spain’s Canary Islands, locals have been demonstrating against holiday-makers and daubing “Tourists Go Home” graffiti, as islanders say they want to move from mass tourism to a more up-market model.

In the Canary Island, thousands of people have demonstrated to demand a tourism model respectful for the islands’ environment and residents. Picture: AFP

This has come somewhat of a blow to the budget-Brits who flock to Tenerife, only to hear they’re not posh enough.

In Croatia, Dubrovnik officials are also continuing their measures against over-tourism. Having capped cruise ships, now they’re banning new holiday apartments.

Dubrovnik in Croatia has capped cruise ships and new holiday apartments.

Finally, in France, the minister for tourism, Olivia Gregoire, last year set out a strategy to limit visitors to some of the country’s most popular sites. Presumably she’s having temporary amnesia over August, as the world descends on Paris for the Olympics.

So, it’s bad news if you’re planning a European hotspots trip, but good news for all of us stuck at home suffering the annual social-media show-off of our Med-bound mates, because now we know the locals aren’t loving it, either.

As anyone who watched White Lotus 2 knows, you don’t always get the welcome you want. When the Italian-American Di Grasso family went off the tourist trail in Sicily to find distant relatives, one waved a knife at them and told them to f*** off.

“Not quite what I imagined,” F. Murray Abraham said.

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Originally published as Kerry Parnell: Bad news for our Mediterranean-bound friends this euro summer