Monsters or a must? Venice tussles with return of cruise ships

The arrival of the MSC Orchestra has rekindled tensions over the pros and cons of the giant vessels

From his booth facing the gondola station at St Mark's Square, the photographer Maurizio Torresan is as much a witness to the ebb and flow of Venice's high tides as he is to its tourists.

The last time he took a photo of a packed square was on 21 February 2020, two days before the annual Venice carnival was abruptly cut short as the coronavirus pandemic took hold.