Backlash after tourist 'head-butts gondolier in Venice after selfie dispute'
A Venetian gondolier was head-butted and punched in the face by an enraged tourist in an altercation over taking a selfie.
The tourist, said to be from South America, had reportedly been taking selfies of himself and his family in a gondola tethered to a canal bank between the Rialto Bridge and St Mark’s Square.
When the gondolier protested that the boat was private property and that the man and his family should get out or pay for a ride, the tourist became angry.
In video footage captured by onlookers, he head-butted and punched the gondolier, who was dressed in the distinctive straw boater and black and white striped t-shirt of his trade.
The incident was seized on by campaigners as the latest example of bad behaviour by tourists in Venice, where a population of around 53,000 is swamped by more than 20 million visitors a year.
“Solidarity to the gondolier who had to endure the reaction of this tourist after he and his family climbed into a gondola to take a selfie,” said campaign group Venice is Not Disneyland, locals who say they are tired of the city being treated like “an amusement park”.
But for Venetians concerned about the decorum of tourists, there was more indignity to come.
In the early hours of Tuesday, two Czech tourists were found swimming naked in a canal close to St Mark’s Square.
The men, fans of the football team Slavia Praga who were on their way to a game in Milan, were caught by officers from the Carabinieri police force.
The men reportedly laughed and joked as they jumped into the narrow canal and told police they had wanted a dip because it was a hot night.
They were charged with offending public decency and hit with fines of €3,000 each.
In July, two German backpackers were fined €950 and expelled from Venice after they were found making coffee on a portable stove beneath the Rialto Bridge, which spans the Grand Canal.
Last month, two young Norwegian women were fined after going for a swim in their underwear in the Rio di Cannaregio canal.
The women, both 28 and from Bergen, were served with an Asbo-style order, under which they were told to leave Venice immediately and not return for at least two days.
Luigi Brugnaro, the mayor of Venice, has led the crackdown on bad behaviour and recently said he was considering a ban on smoking outdoors in the most popular parts of the city. He picked up the idea during a trip to Tokyo, he said.
The ban would initially be applied to the Rialto Bridge and St Mark’s Square, where the biggest tourist crowds congregate, he suggested.
If introduced, it would join a long list of banned behaviour, including picknicking in piazzas, jumping into canals and wearing inappropriate clothing such as swimming shorts and bikinis.
Paola Mar, Venice’s councilor for tourism, said: “Venice is unique, it’s a special city and people can have fun here. But they need to understand that Venice is not a beach. It is an important, fragile city. So when people come to Venice, they need to know the rules.”
