Tourists visiting Rome this summer should be aware that the city’s police force had announced a severe crackdown – on people cooling themselves in the city’s many fountains.
According to The Times newspaper, the city’s mayor Walter Veltroni has ordered police to get tough in enforcing laws that forbid people to put their hands or feet in the fountains.
The newspaper reports that many visitors to the city over the years have dived into the water to cool down amid temperatures that can soar to more than 40 degrees in summer months.
The Times quotes its Italian counterpart Corriere della Sera as complaining: “They swim in our fountains, they wash in them, or they just sit dangling their feet in Gianlorenzo Berlini’s great Baroque creations.”
It goes on to report that Rome’s most famous fountain, the Trevi, was yesterday being guarded by police officers. One is quoted thus: “The moment our backs are turned, off come the sandals and in go the feet.”
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad
