Hoax photo, April 1st, 2017
Genuine photo, April 28th, 2018, entrance to the Lista di Spagna
The first day of Venice officially as a museum/theme-park. Just a year ago the left-hand photo was an April Fool’s hoax. Today the other photo is reality: the turnstiles introduced just outside the station, to redirect tourist-flows. A temporary measure for the long holiday weekend, is the official message. But Venetians are quipping that the next step will be the introduction of key-codes for residents, and anyone who forgets the password will just have to spend the night in Mestre.
Gregory, could you explain exactly what we’re seeing here? I’m confused; do the turnstiles require a ticket?
Terry, the photo on the left is a hoax from a year ago, positing the ridiculous notion (as it seemed then) that entrance to Piazza San Marco would be by turnstile. Last weekend – and this was reality, not a hoax – the city authorities, foreseeing huge numbers of tourists over the holiday period, set up barriers near the station with the professed intention of regulating tourist flows, instructing visitors to take alternative routes towards the centre. So there were no actual tickets but residents protested at what looked like a first move towards the transformation of the city into a museum or theme-park.
Here’s an article that explains it all quite well:
https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/venice-segregation-tourists-locals-turnstiles-torn-down-protest-latest-brugnaro-a8328101.html
Were it not so sad it would be amusing. Instead it is just laughable that the local authorities routinely welcome huge cruise ships yet think that preposterous installations like these will ever work. Meanwhile the indigenous population of Venice grows ever smaller.
I think the authorities just want to give the impression that they are doing something. Of course, there’s no easy solution. There are just far more people in this world who can travel than there were twenty years ago, let alone fifty years ago, and Venice is always going to be a prime destination.