By Hanns-Jochen Kaffsack
ROME: Forget about licking that ice cream cornet on the street in the Sicilian town of Trapani. It is not allowed. The same applies to digging holes in the beach at Ereclea Mare near Venice or even building sandcastles.Feeding the pigeons amid the Venetian lagoons or at Lucca in Tuscany is equally no-go territory and such "offences" carry draconian fines of up 500 euros (RM2,070). Meanwhile on the vacation island of Capri, the clatter of wooden sandals on the pavement generally incurs a penalty ticket.
Welcome to Italy where unsuspecting visitors unwittingly violate local bylaws. It seems that mayors up and down the country are intent on replenishing their dwindling municipal coffers. At the same time it gives them a chance to demonstrate their authoritarian credentials.
More than 150 such "local proclamations" are in force and the victims tend to be tourists unaware of the latest dos and don'ts on Italy's beaches and in the squares and alleyways of its picturesque towns and cities.
Municipalities in northern Italy seem to be the most enthusiastic when it comes to telling people what not to do. This may or may not have something to do with the avowed intention of the right-wing popular Liga Nord (Northern League) to clean up the local streets.
The cost of kissing someone in a car can easily come to 500 euros in Eboli, in Campania, southern Italy -- assuming police spot the perpetrators. In Is Aruttas on the island of Sardinia, smoking in public places is a definite "no no" and when in Rome it is best not to be seen munching any tasty panino rolls on the street.
"We've been dodging these bans slalom-style for the third summer in a row although in many cases people are simply not aware of the transgressions," wrote the independent Turin-based newspaper La Stampa.
Resourceful ideas
La Stampa went on to list some of the more resourceful ideas from various mayors whose efforts have been bolstered by a national law passed by Silvio Berlusconi's government in 2008. This generous legislation covers "everything which could be of relevance to safety and public order."
A consequence is that no one in the Ligurian town of Lerici is allowed to walk the streets while wearing a bathing suit or to hang wet towels from a balcony. In the north-eastern Italian town of Pordenone, arguing publicly with a fiance is out of order while San Remo reviles and fines all those who talk to prostitutes in a public place.
Most people appreciate that dogs and cats do not belong on the beach but pigeons are not welcome either and woe betide anyone who feeds them. At Dante beach in Ravenna it seems that almost almost everything else besides is forbidden, journalist Flavia Amabile observed.
"No loud music is permitted between 1300 and 1600, no advertising flyers are allowed, topless bathing is not tolerated and although the first 200 metres of lido are open to the public, members of it are not supposed to sunbathe on that part of the beach," said Amabile.
With rules like these to observe no one should just breeze into Italy and think they can relax under the blazing sun without further ado. And although it is often unclear what bylaws people are supposed to be violating, it is best not to rely on laid-back Italians turning a blind eye.
Venice is fond of imposing hefty fines while in Brescia a 54-year-old woman had to stump up 100 euros for daring to sit down on the steps of a historic monument in one of the city's squares.
A young man in Gallarate in Lombardy paid the price for his nocturnal audacity. He was obliged to pay a penalty of 500 euros for having celebrated in the city centre around midnight while at the same time clutching a glass of beer.
- dpa
