A special counter installed in Venice shows that places to sleep for visitors will literally outnumber those for locals in Venice for the first time in the coming weeks or months. Housing activists hope it will finally be a wake up call for the city.
Tourists stroll across St. Mark s square by St. Mark s basilica in Venice earlier this month. AFP
In recent months, Piero Dri has luxuriated in the calm of Venice s waterways. Covid-19 restrictions kept tourists away and reduced water traffic to a trickle, allowing him to paddle his traditional mascareta rowboat across the lagoon any time he liked without having to worry about being swamped by the wake of larger craft or even cruise liners.
His idyll came to an end about two weeks ago. The waves were so high … I had to go home. It was only 10 a.m., said 37-year-old Mr. Dri, who has a workshop where he crafts intricate fórcola, the raised, crutch-like oar locks that gondoliers use to scull their craft through the Venetian canals. The environment has been violated by the sheer amount of motor boats of all kinds whizzing through the lagoon.