That sinking feeling: why long-suffering Venice is quite right to make tourists pay | Simon Jenkins

The overcrowded city is leading the way with a tax on day trippers. Surely other great European destinations should follow suit

Venice has had enough. It is sinking beneath the twin assaults of tourism and the sea and believes the answer lies in fending off visitors by charging them to enter. It is not alone. Tourism is under attack. Seville is charging for entry to the central Plaza de Espana. In Paris, the Mona Lisa is so besieged by flashing phones she is about to be banished to a basement. Barcelona graffiti shout, Tourists go home, refugees welcome." Amsterdam wants no more coach parties, nor does Rome.

The Venice payment will be complicated. It will apply at specific entry points only to day trippers to the city centre, not hotel guests. It will be a mere five euros and confined to peak times of day over the summer. This will hardly cover the cost of running it. It is a political gesture that is unlikely to stem the tourist flow round the Rialto and St Mark's Square, let alone leave more room for Venetians to enjoy their city undisturbed by mobs.

Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist

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