Rome tourist fined €450 fine for eating gelato

Harsh fines around food and landmarks are part of the city’s ‘urban decorum’ rules

An American tourist has been issued a €450 (£390) fine for tucking into a gelato in the wrong place.

The man, who has not been named, sat on the edge of the Fontana dei Catecumeni in Rome’s Monti neighbourhood to eat the frozen snack when he was approached by Italian police at around 1am on Saturday 3 August.

He was also drinking a beer and ignored police when officers asked him to move away from the landmark, local newspaper La Repubblica reported.

According to the publication, the unfortunate tourist pleaded: “I didn’t know the rules; I didn’t know I couldn’t sit down. I didn’t understand what you were saying to me.”

The unassuming fountain in Rome’s Piazza Madonna dates back to 1589, and often has protective tape around it to prevent tourists in this dining and nightlife area from sitting on its steps or basin.

The strict fine is part of Rome’s recently imposed “urban decorum” rules, designed to protect historic sites and landmarks and claim the city back from the swathes of tourists who visit each year.

There are wider plans in Italy to crack down on the damaging effects of overtourism, with new rules imposed along the Amalfi coast and in Venice, as well as the capital.

Under Rome’s rules, which were updated in 2019, “messy eating” around historic monuments is forbidden, along with men walking around shirtless, tourists jumping into fountains and attaching “love padlocks” to bridges and gates.

Though tourists may drink from Rome’s historic drinking fountains (nasoni), they may not let their mouth touch the spout. Instead, authorities are urging visitors to cup their hands and drink from them, as locals do.

More recently, last month Rome cracked down on the use of scooters in the city, approving three electric scooter companies that will be allowed to operate from January 2023 and banning four others in operation, in a bid to reduce the number of scooters on the streets by around a third.

It will also impose a minimum age for and speed limits on the city’s scooters.

In June, an American tourist and her companion were fined €400 (£348) each after she threw her electric scooter down Rome’s iconic Spanish Steps.

Authorities accused the woman of causing an estimated €25,000 (£21,000) worth of damage.

The same month, four German holidaymakers were fined €4,200 (£3,570) for having a picnic on an historic wellhead in Venice.

Meanwhile in July, the town of Sorrento, on Italy’s Amalfi Coast, introduced fines of up to €500 (£425) for tourists strolling around shirtless or in a bikini, under new rules brought in by mayor Massimo Coppola.