Venice renews crackdown on bad behaviour as tourists return

Local police unit says influx of visitors has coincided with signs of urban degradation'

Venice has missed tourists - but not their bad habits. In an echo of the pre-pandemic era, authorities have been cracking down on uncouth behaviour as visitors flock back to the lagoon city. A French tourist was fined 150 (128) after paddling along the Grand Canal on his standup paddleboard and two German women had to each pay 250 for sunbathing in bikinis by San Stae church.

Venice's local police unit said the return of tourists had coincided with signs of urban degradation". They also reprimanded two tourists from the Czech Republic - one for speeding through Campiello Selvatico on a bike and the other for whizzing past Palazzo Cavalli on an electric scooter. Each received fines of 100.