Tourists face €250 fine for sitting on Spanish Steps
Italy
When Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck walked hand in hand down the Spanish Steps in the 1953 romantic comedy Roman Holiday they introduced much of the world to the delights of the Eternal City.
Today, many Romans wish they hadn’t: the famed steps are now so crowded that officials have introduced a ban on sitting there in an attempt to preserve decorum, with fines starting at €250 (NZ$430) and rising to €400 for anyone who dirties or damages what has become one of Rome’s most popular tourist spots. The 135-step marble stairway, built in 1723-25, sweeps down from the church of Trinita dei Monti to Bernini’s boatshaped Barcaccia fountain. They are at the heart of the city’s fashion district, surrounded by the logos of Gucci, Prada, Bulgari and Missoni.
‘‘It’s as though you have invited someone into your house and he sits down, takes off his shoes and puts his feet on the table,’’ David Sermoneta, president of the Piazza di Spagna traders’ association, said. ‘‘Without respect there is no decorum.’’
Sermoneta, whose association has hired two retired police officers to help to keep order in the chic neighbourhood, said he was delighted to see the staircase ‘‘finally free of the barbarians’’.
However, Vittorio Sgarbi, an art critic, denounced the measure as ‘‘excessive, almost fascist’’. He said: ‘‘It’s fine to protect the monument, obviously people can’t be allowed to eat on the marble steps, but a ban on sitting down seems really excessive. It looks like a fascist measure that the council will be forced to reconsider.’’
Gianni Battistoni, fashion designer and president of the Via Condotti association, was another who welcomed the measure, which is being overseen by a unit of 24 officers from the municipal police.
‘‘It’s a small step back towards civilisation, as you’d need a policeman for every visitor in order to control people eating or drinking liquids that might damage the marble,’’ Battistoni said. ‘‘It’s better that people are simply forbidden to sit.’’
The measure is part of a package of civic rules intended to discourage bad behaviour such as jumping into fountains or walking around shirtless. It was approved in June but only came gradually into effect once sanctions were defined by the council last month.
The law has caught tourists off guard, but many are supportive. ‘‘I couldn’t understand why the officers were whistling. It was like finding yourself in a football match and I didn’t expect it in the middle of Rome,’’ Nicolas Proietto, 36, from Argentina, told an Italian newspaper. Mr Proietto was about to sit down near the top of the stairs when the police moved him on. ‘‘I agree with it, these marvellous ancient works have to be protected,’’ he said. –