Venice live blog: Iconic Italian city to segregate tourists and locals this weekend

Barriers installed in Venice, Italy ahead of day of segregation of tourists and residents

Welcome to Venice on what authorities have predicted will be the busiest day of the year for tourists. Possibly one of its most controversial days, too – because they’re planning to segregate locals and tourists in order to divert footfall where possible.

The “urgent measures” have been decreed by mayor Luigi Brugnaro in the wake of a packed Easter weekend which drew local ire when vaporetti (waterbuses) were close to unusable and the main streets were unbearably full.

The measures work on the basis that the vast majority of visitors want to visit just two places in Venice: Piazza San Marco and the Rialto Bridge. Checkpoints will be set up at the two main entrances to the city: Piazzale Roma (the bus terminal) and the Santa Lucia train station. Only locals and those carrying a Carta Venezia (for frequent visitors) will be allowed along the main thoroughfares; everyone else will be diverted along less direct routes.

So is this the day Venice officially turns into a theme park? The Independent’s travel editor, Julia Buckley, is in town – and as a regular visitor in possession of a Carta Venezia, she’s going to experience both sides of the divide.

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Other measures include rerouting boats full of daytrippers that usually stop at Riva degli Schiavoni in San Marco to Fondamente Nuove in Cannaregio, which is further away from the city centre.

Those driving may need a parking reservation or risk being redirected away from the centre, and local police will be keeping an eye on the main car park; once full, they may limit the number of cars they allow over the bridge from the mainland.

“Our goal is to inform those who want to come to the city that in the coming days there could be an extraordinary influx of people, making it difficult to visit,” said the mayor in a statement.

“All tourists know that, if they respect the city, they are welcome. At the same time, however, we have the task of safeguarding Venice, and this is why we have adopted measures based on what is permitted by current regulation.”

He added that this weekend was an opportunity to “experiment with a new tourism management system”.

[28 April 2018 16:30 · julia.buckley]

And here's Toni from Vicenza (another beautiful Veneto town with a fraction of Venice's tourist numbers) on his stag do. Dressing up is apparently a thing for stag parties here as well as at home - only they do things like Mario or an anonymous milkman (another one I saw earlier) rather than mankinis.

Toni the stag 

[28 April 2018 16:30 · julia.buckley]

Toni and friends: in their own words.

[28 April 2018 16:33 · Adam Withnall]

It's looking relatively empty in the choke zone

[28 April 2018 16:35 · Adam Withnall]

The narrow streets are where the crowds build up

[28 April 2018 16:36 · Adam Withnall]

It's getting more crowded towards Rialto

[28 April 2018 16:40 · julia.buckley]

Time to brave the Rialto Bridge - it'll be interesting to see if it's as packed as usual, because that might mean that the diversions are working.

Either way, however crowded it's about to get, Venice is as spectacular and worthy a destination of your time as ever. 

For example, this is a mere department store.

Fondaco dei Tedeschi 

[28 April 2018 17:05 · Adam Withnall]

H

ere's how quiet it is when you venture just one block from the main drag

[28 April 2018 17:05 · julia.buckley]

So, the worst chokepoint of all: Rialto. Sure, it's 2-3 people deep if you want to take photos but it's possible to walk across it without stopping, which isn't always a given. And just off the Grand Canal, I'm standing in a deserted street. This feels like the lower half of high season to me. Does that mean people have been warned off?Time to hit some ratruns so I can make it to Piazza San Marco before I have to get my flight home.

[28 April 2018 18:17 · julia.buckley]

I've been slightly surprised by the volume of visitors today - there are a lot of people here, but not as many as I've seen in the height of summer. But I may have been underreacting if locals are anything to go by. Silvia Cigogna, from pharmacy Italo Inglese, thinks it's packed today.Her pharmacy is on the main drag between the Rialto Bridge and Piazza San Marco, and she says from what she's seen through the window, it's very busy. "Just wait till you get to Piazza San Marco", she warns.

[28 April 2018 18:22 · julia.buckley]

Then there's the woman behind the counter at Segreti di Bellezza, a lotions and potions shop that's always rammed - and I mean rammed - with tourists. This evening, I'm the only customer - but that means nothing, she says. "This is just the start," she warns me. "It's only going to get busier from now on. People have been arriving today but it's going to be worse tomorrow and Monday [a bank holiday]".Luckily for me I'm leaving tonight.