Two surfers who navigated Venice’s Grand Canal on motorized boards on Wednesday have been identified and the boards confiscated, the city’s mayor said.
Mayor Luigi Brugnaro posted a video on social media showing a couple of surfers walking down the famous canal as the sun rises in the distance Dinner for everyone who has identified the criminals. In a later post, he said their boards had been confiscated and that the two would be arrested soon.
He didn’t say what penalty they face, but the city has a long list of rules governing visitor behavior. Venice has long suffered from over-tourism and with it a lack of decency on the part of visitors.
The city fined two German travelers $1,000 in 2019 for making coffee on the 430-year-old Rialto Bridge.
Visitors are also prohibited from swimming in the canals and eating on the steps of the monuments or face fines.
From next year, day trippers will have to pay a tourist tax to offset the high cost of providing services in the canal city.