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As odd as it may sound, Venice, Italy recently announced that they have reached capacity when it comes to accommodating the influx of tourists, and quite literally closed their gates to tourists. The city installed temporary gates at the end of two of the city’s bridges in order to turn back tourists, if their numbers became overwhelming during the recent four-day holiday weekend that ended yesterday, May 1, 2018.

From 28 April through 01 May, historic landmarks, popular with tourists were closed to tourists, which were expected to number 200,000 or more, almost three times the normal number of tourists. According to CNTraveler, the Piazzale Roma and the Constitution Bridge were open only to residents and commuters, and access was restricted via checkpoints (temporary gates). Mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro said, “these urgent measures to guarantee public safety, security and liveability.” It should be noted, that the “gates” were used on the four-day Festa del Lavoro.

The city posted animated “tweets” in a variety of languages (including English) that portions of the city would be restricted.

+++28.04>01.05 Venice could be very crowded, from P.le Roma and the Railway station pedestrians could be rerouted as signalled.@LuigiBrugnaro @muoversivenezia @plmr543 @veneziaunica @DetourismVenice @teatrolafenice @CMVenezia @lecittainfesta @TurismoVeneto pic.twitter.com/6p1GgSJTm2

— Comune di Venezia (@comunevenezia) April 29, 2018

Additional measures being taken by Venice is controlling the access of cruise ships to the inner city, pushing the larger ships to cruise terminals about 20 minutes away or anchoring and ferrying their passengers to the city by tender-boat. This control has resulted in fewer cruise ships including Venice on their itineraries. According to the Telegraph, “Port Authority president Pino Musolino said that over the past two decades the cruise sector has been a significant source of income for the local population and Venice.” Musolino noted, “No one wants big ships sailing past St Mark’s Square but they are important to the local economy so we have to find a solution to manage the economic and sustainability issues.”

On 29 April, the mayor was seen in the city’s command center and at the “gates” designed to separate the tourists from the residents in certain areas of the city.

#Venezia | Dopo il blitz dei NoGlobal a Piazzale Roma il sindaco Brugnaro ai varchi del ponte della Costituzione e nella sala operativa della Polizia Locale per monitorare la gestione dei flussi turistici @comunevenezia @CMVenezia @veneziaunica
[staff] pic.twitter.com/MO03EOta9O

— Luigi Brugnaro (@LuigiBrugnaro) April 29, 2018

Venice’s population is shrinking

Protests from the citizens of Venice have been ongoing. In 2016, the population fell below 55,000, with over 25,000 of that number aged 60 or over. The city, who has been hosting upward of 70,000 daily tourists, which surges to 200,000 over holidays. The residents are feeling overwhelmed.

Visitors to Venice should follow the city’s Twitter account or reach out directly to determine if access to key tourist attractions will be closed or restricted to tourists during your visit.