Viral Italian village to install barriers to stop tourists

A popular viewpoint will become residents-only in peak season

Funes has a population of just 2,500 residents (Getty Images)

An Alpine village in Italy is installing barriers to stem the flow of selfie-taking tourists crowding its hillside.

Funes, a town in South Tyrol near the Austrian border, has attracted thousands of international tourists since its lush meadows and mountain peak backdrops went viral on social media.

Once a hotspot for hikers, the Italian village now welcomes daily daytrippers visiting for sunset photos outside the Santa Maddalena church.

The 15th-century church sits up a narrow road in front of the Odles mountain range.

Locals in the town of just 2,500 residents have reported traffic jams, trespassing and littering following a surge in visitors.

Now, new barriers will enforce residents-only access to the road during the summer peak season from May to November.

Daytrippers will instead have to park elsewhere and walk 15 minutes up a footpath to reach the mountain views.

Roswitha Moret Niederwolfsgruber, the council chief for social welfare, said: “They want that photo at all costs.

“They have no respect, walking into people’s gardens and leaving their cars where they want … we are not living anymore,” reported the Times.

The new barriers will be positioned further up the road than a previous trial three years ago to more effectively control visitor flow to the Santa Maddalena viewpoint.

Funes’ popularity on social media channels in China in particular is believed to stem from the image of the church being printed on sim cards by a Chinese operator in 2005.

Several influencers have claimed that its hillsides inspired the mountain emoji on mobile phones.

The council will also increase parking fees from €4 (£3.50) to an unknown amount.

Funes isn’t the first Alpine village to take action against tourists after going viral.

In 2023, the Austrian town of Hallstatt escalated its battle with overtourism by constructing wooden fences that obstructed lakeside views of the area.

Two fences appeared in the town at the foot of the Salzkammergut Mountains, partially blocking the view of Hallstatt’s famous selfie backdrop.

Hallstatt, a protected Unesco World Heritage site, has hosted over a million tourists a year since rumour spread that the striking landscape had inspired the kingdom of Arendelle from Disney’s hit film Frozen.

Read more: Austrian town that inspired Arendelle from ‘Frozen’ erects fence in bid to stop selfies