Latest news with #Veneto
Times
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Times
Meloni ally whips up ‘rich risotto' to rival antifascist pasta
T wo staples of Italian cuisine — pasta and risotto — have once again become pawns in a century-old ideological row that has shifted the playing field of Italian politics from parliament to the kitchen. Giorgia Meloni's party is increasingly using food to broadcast national pride and political allegiance. Joe Formaggio, a restaurant owner and Veneto regional councillor for the prime minister's Brothers of Italy party, has created an 'anti-communist risotto', a creamy concoction with black truffles, that has rattled Italy's left-wingers who have long championed pasta as the food of the Italian worker. 'Friends sent me the propagandist images of leftists eating sauceless pasta … and I thought, 'we have to do something',' said Formaggio who was raised in the Veneto region's Berici hills that are famed for their truffle risotto. 'There's a difference between an insipid, sauceless pasta dish and a rich risotto with truffle that has now become the culinary symbol of anti-communism.'
The Independent
7 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
Calls to raise Venice entry fee to stem ‘obscene rivers of tourists'
A Venice businessman has proposed a €100 (£86) entry fee to stop day-tripping tourists from descending on the city without spending. Setrak Tokatzian, president of St Mark's Square residents' association, said that the historic Italian city is in a 'state of calamity' in an interview with local newspaper Corriere del Veneto. He said: 'This tourism is obscene. 'There's a complete explosion of overtourism like never before, with a type of people wandering around without entering shops or even knowing where they are.' Tokatzian, a jewellery shop owner, called for the charge in order to stem the 'rivers of people' arriving in Venice. Around 30 million tourists visit Venice annually. Seven out of 10 stay only for the day. 'They move from one place to another, often guided by tour operators, boarding gondolas, hopping into taxis, rushing here and there, but no one buys anything', Tokatzian added. The residents' association president said that tourists who 'don't know what culture is' often bypass storefronts to spend money on 'illegal vendors' selling grain for pigeons and roses. On 25 April 2024, Venice became the first metropolis in the world to charge admission for daytrippers. An almost £90 fee would be 20 times more expensive for travellers than the usual €5 (£4.20) charge. A €5 to €10 levy was trialled between April and July this year, with last-minute tourists who make reservations less than four days in advance paying the higher €10 (£8.35) rate. Daytrippers visiting during peak hours – 8.30am to 4pm – have to pay the daily fee, while overnight tourists with hotel reservations are exempt from the charge. Exemptions are also granted to residents, Venetian-born visitors, students and workers. Not everyone agrees with calls to increase the Venice entry tax. Claudio Vernier, former president of the St Mark's Square association, wrote on social media that 'to believe that an entry fee of €100 can solve this sick system is a pure illusion'. Vernier said: 'Asking 100 euros to enter does not educate the visitor. Doesn't teach them respect, doesn't make them more aware. 'On the contrary, those who spend a similar amount will expect a perfect, luxurious, frictionless 'theme park' experience — an expectation that cannot be met in a lively, historic, fragile city.' Simon Calder, travel correspondent of The Independent, said: 'I was in Venice on the first day entry fees were charged, and it was clear that the €5 levy had no significant effect in reducing tourist numbers. 'Much higher fees would certainly have an impact, but to avoid means testing visitors, there must also be times of the year when admission is free.'
Telegraph
a day ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Venice urged to charge €100 tourist tax
Venice is so overwhelmed by low-budget tourists who spend a pittance that visitors should be charged €100 each to enter the city, one of its most prominent business leaders has said. 'We're in a state of emergency – tourists no longer buy anything. I'd make them pay €100 a head,' said Setrak Tokatzian, the owner of a historic jewellery shop and the president of the association of businesses of St Mark's Square, in the heart of the World Heritage city. Day-trippers are already charged between €5 and €10 per person to enter Venice under a controversial scheme introduced by the city council last year. But Mr Tokatzian's proposal goes far beyond that. He takes issue, in particular, with budget holidaymakers who stay in campsites on the mainland and arrive in Venice on coaches and buses. 'Every day I see rivers of people who arrive in the city but have no real goal. They drift from one part of the city to another, led by tour guides, they go on gondolas, they take water taxis, they rush here and there, but no one buys anything,' he said. 'They arrive in the morning on coaches and they leave in the afternoon without having spent a euro. I hate to say it, but this kind of tourism is dreadful.' High-end businesses are suffering from the preponderance of low spending 'hit-and-run' day-trippers, he added, saying: 'You don't see people walking past with handbags bought in designer shops, as used to happen in the past.' When tourists do buy bags and belts, they buy cheap imitation goods from unauthorised hawkers, many of them Senegalese and Bangladeshi immigrants. 'I've seen families sharing a single dish in a restaurant. There are queues at the water fountains to get water because people don't even want to buy that. I ask myself, where are the beautiful people, those who are interested in the city, those who really bring something to the city?' said Mr Tokatzian. He said day-trippers 'don't walk into shops but instead take selfies as they feed seeds to the pigeons [in St Mark's Square]. Legal business owners don't sell anything, but we have to watch the hawkers make hundreds of euros a day selling stuff illegally. Does that seem fair?' But Roberto Panciera, the president of Confcommercio Venezia, another business association, said it was wrong to victimise tourists on a budget. Venice is having a tough time economically because of other broader factors, from the wars in Gaza and Ukraine to inflation, the cost of living crisis and the tariff wars threatened by Donald Trump. Retail businesses in Venice are also being hurt by online shopping. 'Tourists often photograph what they see in a shop window and then look for similar and less expensive products on the internet,' said Mr Panciera. Venice city council, meanwhile, announced that the entrance fee initiative has come to an end for this year. More than 720,000 visitors paid between €5 and €10 to enter the city on the 54 peak days during which the levy was charged, the city said. The fee, which applied to day-trippers and not to people spending at least one night in a hotel in Venice, brought in €5.4 million. Last year, when the entrance fee was introduced, it applied to 29 peak days and brought in €2.4 million to the city's coffers. Critics of the project said the entrance fee had made no difference to limiting the number of tourists swamping Venice. They claim that little by little, Venice is haemorrhaging inhabitants and becoming a cultural Disneyland – an issue highlighted by the high-profile wedding last month of Jeff Bezos, one of the world's richest men, to Lauren Sanchez, an American television journalist. Campaigners accused the Amazon founder of treating Venice as a rich man's playground, a picturesque backdrop to a wedding believed to have cost tens of millions of dollars. Venice's population decline has been precipitous, from more than 170,000 residents in the 1950s to around 48,000 now. But the authorities insist the tourist entrance ticket was helping tackle the scourge of over-tourism. Venice became the first city in the world to introduce a payment system for tourists when it adopted the scheme in April last year. 'The system has worked well in its second year, showing that we can reconcile the aim of regulating the flow of day-trippers with maintaining accessibility and transparency,' said Michele Zuin, of Venice city council. 'The aim of the system is not to make money – the funds received will be used for projects that will benefit Venice's residents.' Simone Venturini, the council official in charge of tourism, said the data collected from the entrance fee scheme would be analysed and used to better manage tourist numbers. Venice has adopted a number of measures in the last year to try to manage the impact of over-tourism, including limiting the size of tourist groups to 25. The council has also decreed that guides can no longer use loudspeakers because they are annoying and intrusive for other visitors.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Venice should charge visitors £87 a DAY to reduce 'tide' of tourists who 'don't even know what culture is', local business leader demands
Venice has made five million Euro (£4.7million) with a daily five Euro (£4.35) tourist tax this summer, but some businesses want it raised to clamp down on 'unclassy' visitors. The charge was introduced in April as part of a trial run following one last year and was payable over 54 selected days until last Sunday by day trippers who visited the iconic Italian lagoon city. Officials said that the charge, payable by visitors who arrived for the day between 8.30am and 4pm, was paid by 720,000 compared to 485,000 last year. However, Setrak Tokatzian, president of the Venice's historic Piazza San Marco Association of small businesses, has urged council chiefs to up the tax to an eye-watering 100 Euro (£87). Mr Tokatzian, who runs a jewellery shop in the heart of Venice, said it would be worth it because many of the 30million people who visit the city each year are lowering the tone of the city. In what might be considered a rather snobby interview with the local Corriere del Veneto, he said: 'Every day I see rivers of people coming to the city, but without a goal. 'They move from side to side, often guided by tour operators, climb gondolas, and I'm sorry to say but this sort of tourism is obscene. 'There is a total over explosion of tourists, these people wander around and don't even bother going into any of the shops, they don't even know where they are going. 'No one goes into any of the designer stores and bus branded goods, they just buy fake goods from the street sellers. 'But it's not just that. I have also heard from hoteliers who tell me there has been a drop in overnight guests and the restaurants tell me the same thing. 'I myself have seen people, when they do stop to eat something, divide up a plate of pasta or share a drink. People line up at fountains to get water instead of buying bottles from a shop. 'Where are the classy people, the ones interested in the city and who really bring something to it?' Earlier his year Venice was the venue for billionaire Amazon boss Jeff Bezos's wedding to Lauren Sanchez. And Mr Tokatzian was one of many including the mayor, who hit out at critics of the event. He added of over tourism: 'I think it is a widespread phenomena throughout Italy, from what I have head from counterparts in Milan and other cities, it's all the same. 'In St Mark's Square no one stops to look in the shop windows, a tide of people just arrive from the mainland in the morning on boats and then go home in the afternoon, without even appreciating where they have been. 'I personally believe we need to put some sort of threshold on this over tourism, and charge these people 100 Euro. 'There are tides of people coming in from the campsites nearby every day with wrist bands on and they don't even know what culture is, and you can see it in them when they arrive. 'And then what's worse is that they leave without buying a thing, except from the street hawkers who in my eyes make money illegally, and this is a daily battle for us.' He went on: 'The tourists come; they don't buy anything but they are happy for someone to take their picture feeding grains to the pigeons in in St Mark's Square.' The idea was dismissed by consumer group, Assoutenti, with spokesman Gabriele Melluso saying it was 'madness and unworkable'. He said: 'The truth, and the businesses all know it, is that tourists don't buy in Venice because the prices are too high. 'To have a bite to eat in a cafe or restaurant in the city of Venice, in one of the tourist areas, is to pay some of the highest prices in Italy and that's why when people do visit, they try and save money. 'To combat over tourism in Venice and Italy, we don't need unrealistic taxes that transform the beauty of our country into something just for the rich but a well booking system and better PR.' No one from Venice City Council was immediately available to discuss the idea.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Report – Serie B New Boys Padova Pushing For Young Inter Milan Midfielder
Newly-promoted Serie B side Padova are reportedly pushing for a deal to sign Inter Milan midfielder Luca Di Maggio. This according to Italian broadcaster Sky Sport Italia, via FCInter1908. Young Inter Milan midfielder Luca Di Maggio spent last season on loan with Perugia in Serie C. Therefore, this was the 20-year-old's first season of regular first team football. And it was a successful campaign for Di Maggio as he looked to find his feet in the senior game. Padova Pushing To Sign Inter Midfielder Luca Di Maggio FLORENCE, ITALY – JANUARY 17: Luca Di Maggio of therefore. Moreover. Italy in action during the International Friendly between Italy U19 and Spain U19 at Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano on January 17, 2024 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by) Now, Inter Milan will decide what the next step will be for Di Maggio. Reportedly, the Nerazzurri had been considering putting the Italy Under-20 international into their Under-23 team next season. Inter will have the intermediate team, similar to the Juventus Next Gen and AC Milan Futuro sides, for the first time starting next campaign. However, the Nerazzurri will instead take a different tack. They feel that Di Maggio is ready for Serie B football after a successful spell in the second division with Perugia. Therefore, reports Sky Sport Italia, it is Padova who have reached an agreement to sign Di Maggio. The Venetian side have won promotion to Serie B. And they look set to sign the 20-year-old in the next few days, giving him his first experience in the second division.
