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 22:34 · julia.buckley]

Here's what's drawing all these people (an estimated 200,000 this weekend, compared to 50,000 locals). Even when it's rammed, Venice is breathtaking.

[28 April 2018 22:39 · julia.buckley]

While I've got your attention, if you're going to Venice and want to ride in a gondola, please support the guys behind Gondolas4All, a really beautiful initiative that has made the world's first wheelchair-accessible gondola. They're based at Piazzale Roma. Even if you don't use a wheelchair, they deserve your support - you can donate via their website, or contact them to book a gondola ride, safe in the knowledge that you may be doing the most touristy thing on the planet, but you're helping to pay off the debts of their mammoth project as you do so.

[28 April 2018 22:50 · julia.buckley]

Those pretty Venice pictures again, because it looks like the gallery didn't post.

As you'll see from the photos, I spent so long in San Marco that I had to get a (heinously expensive) water taxi back to Piazzale Roma in order to get the coach to the airport, but one good thing that came out of it was that we diverted off the Grand Canal through the back streets - and we pretty much took one of the routes being suggested that tourists take when the gates are up and the routes are blocked. 

They were largely empty today - a few people on bridges but nothing overwhelming.

The other thing that stood out from the taxi ride is that, genuinely, if you get just a single block off the main drags, you're likely to be with a much more manageable number of people, if not on your own.

That's why the idea of closing the streets off does concern me. As I said before, I worry it'll end up making the ratruns that those of us who know the city well tend to use. That could make things even less tenable for the people who live here.

[28 April 2018 22:53 · julia.buckley]

A message from Venetians who are fed up with the lot of us:

"Don't piss here"

[28 April 2018 22:57 · julia.buckley]

I got back to Piazzale Roma this evening to find the barriers completely unmanned...

...and pretty much every single person ignoring the signs and climbing over the Calatrava bridge.

[28 April 2018 23:02 · julia.buckley]

When I interviewed Venice's assessor of tourism, Paola Mar, last year, one of the first things she said to me was how irritated she gets when outsiders play the "I've got a great idea, why don't you try this?" card.

So apologies in advance to Ms Mar, but one thing that's really struck me today...

If the vast majority of tourists only want to see the RIalto Bridge and Piazza San Marco - and if that's what they do anyway, leaving a trail of havoc in their wake - is it really the best course of action to try and disperse them, in the hope that they'll go elsewhere?

I can't help thinking that laying on dedicated shuttles from the bus and train stations to the Rialto and St Mark's would not only take the pressure off the vaporetti, it'd clear the streets of people who buy nothing, and free up space for locals. 

Lots of Venice hotels have shuttles going to Piazza San Marco - would it be such a bad thing to do that on a larger scale? If they're going to these places anyway, it wouldn't be increasing footfall - but it would make things more bearable for everyone else.

[28 April 2018 23:46 · julia.buckley]

So what did I learn today? Well, I was expecting this...

...and I only got this...

Mind you, it's been predicted that this weekend will be the busiest of the year so far - not necessarily the biggest of all. And although I could move freely at (almost) every point, what's bearable for a single day would be completely unbearable for a lifetime. No wonder locals are abandoning the city.

I'm not convinced filtering the masses down other streets is the answer, however - I think it may make life even more difficult for residents, and cause the streets to grind to a halt as map-wielding tourists pause in the narrow calli. And Valeria Duflot makes an excellent point about the possibility of the new thoroughfares being flooded with tacky souvenir shops.

As a regular Venice visitor, am I offended they want to lessen my impact on the city? Absolutely not. I'm not convinced this is the right way to do that, though. 

Don't let any of this put you off visiting, though. Venice is spellbinding, breathtaking, enchanting every minute of the day. Even when she's rammed, even when she's humid, even when she's bone-chillingly cold as she is in the fog-ridden winter. There is nowhere like her on earth.

But you won't find that out in a day, or at the Rialto or at Piazza San Marco. As I, a former sceptic, found out myself, it only hits you once you're off the beaten track. 

So do still visit, but do so responsibly. Stay in a locally owned hotel. Eat in a locally owned restaurant. Ditch the tacky souvenirs and support local artisans. See a lesser known museum or church. Go to Giudecca or the Lido. Don't squat on bridges, clog the alleyways to take selfies, or dip your feet in the canals. Be nice. 

Here's a good place to start for a responsible weekend in Venice.

Thanks for reading through this tiring, pavement-pounding day. We'll keep you posted with any more gate-related developments as they happen.

Ciao for now.