End of La Dolce Vita for millions as Trevi fountain is declared out of bounds

TOURISTS are to be banned from sitting on the basin of the Trevi fountain after a spate of illegal swimming inspired by a scene from the 1960 film La Dolce Vita.

Under a plan unveiled by mayor Virginia Raggi, tourists will only be able to visit the 18th-century Baroque masterpiece by passing along a one-way route on one side of the fountain, while volunteer attendants will protect the rest of the area from 9am until midnight.

Officials at the mayor’s Campidoglio palace said the new arrangement will be introduced as soon as May 29. “It will be in experimental form first, so that we can judge the effectiveness of the new solution,” one said.

Abuse of the fountain has escalated since last July when a 64-year-old British woman, Delilah Jay, took a daring dip in the Trevi to recreate the scene from the Fellini film in which Anita Ekberg and Marcello Mastroianni swam in its basin. Ms Jay blew kisses to the crowd as she walked through the water. She was later fined €450.

Officials fear that illegal bathing will increase with the arrival of summer.

The main task of the volunteers at the Trevi, who are to be recruited from retired police officers, will be to channel the thousands of tourists who visit the fountain along the permitted route. Tourists will be able to stop briefly to take a photograph or throw coins over their shoulders into the water, a gesture that according to tradition means a visitor will return to Rome.

Last month Ms Raggi’s office announced several new measures to protect the city’s main 30 fountains. It was forbidden to sit on them, wash feet, have water fights or allow pets to drink from them with fines ranging from €180 to €450.

Volunteers were used effectively for crowd control in 2015 when the fountain’s steps were closed for restoration.

It is hoped that this new system will put a stop to tourists mistreating the fountain, and bring some order to the overcrowded square.