Large cruise ships are to be banned from sailing into the center of Venice from Aug. 1, the Italian government announced on Tuesday after years of warnings they risk causing irreparable damage to the lagoon city.
The decision comes just days before a meeting of UNESCO, which had proposed to add Venice to its list of endangered heritage sites.
“The decree adopted today represents an important step for the protection of the Venetian lagoon system,” Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said after the decree was approved at a Cabinet meeting.
Photo: AP
He added that there would be money to mitigate the impact on employment.
The move would see the biggest ships diverted to the city’s industrial port of Marghera, but that is viewed as only a temporary solution, with ministers calling for ideas on a new permanent terminal.
The passengers aboard cruise ships provide a huge economic boost to Venice, but many residents say the floating hotels should not sail past the iconic St Mark’s Square.
They warn the ships cause large waves that undermine the city’s foundations and harm the fragile ecosystem of its lagoon.
The debate was reignited by the return last month of cruises after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Venice was put on UNESCO’s heritage list in 1987 as an “extraordinary architectural masterpiece,” but the body last month said that there was a need for “more sustainable tourism management.”
After years of debate, Italian Minister of Culture Dario Franceschini said that the government had decided to act now “to avoid the real risk of the city’s inclusion on the endangered world heritage list.”
“From August 1, large ships will no longer be able to reach Venice through the St Mark’s Basin, the St Mark’s Canal or the Giudecca Canal,” Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Enrico Giovannini said.
There would be compensation for those who lose out from the move and 157 million euros (US$185 million) is to be invested in Marghera port.
He said the ban was a “necessary step to protect the environmental, landscape, artistic and cultural integrity of Venice.”
It is to only apply to the biggest ships, with those carrying about 200 passengers viewed as “sustainable” and allowed to enter.
Those that fulfill any of four criteria are to be banned: weighing more than 25,000 tonnes, measuring more than 180m long, more than 35m high or producing more than 0.1 percent sulfur.
Marco Michielli, vice president of tourism association Confturismo, said the new law represented a “good compromise.”
“The Marghera solution would maintain port activity in Venice, on the one hand safeguard jobs and activities, and on the other free up the Giudecca Canal,” he said.
The issue of cruise ships in Venice has sparked global debate, and last month celebrities and cultural figures, including Mick Jagger and Francis Ford Coppola, issued a call for action.
In an open letter to the Italian government calling for a range of measures to better protect the city, they said that the historic site risked being “swept away” by cruise ships.
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