Well, you can pack them, but just don’t plan to nosh on them while you’re visiting the picturesque city’s world-famous monuments.
Rome’s government officials recently voted to ban sightseers from snacking near the city’s historical center.
City leaders say the snack ban was put into place to preserve local treasures and decorum in a city that attracts millions of visitors every year. The new rule also bans homeless people from setting up makeshift beds near the city’s most noteworthy landmarks including the Pantheon and the Spanish Steps. Drunks, litterbugs and hooligans will also face stiff penalties if caught loitering in central areas under the new ordinance.
The ban was passed last week and will remain in effect until the end of October.
Don’t follow the new ordinance and you can expect to shell out up to $80 in fines.
According to officials, Rome is one of the last Italian cities to take measures to protect its monuments and limit the effects of mass tourism.
Venice already banned picnics in public places and bare torsos in St. Mark’s Square, while Florence has outlawed random men who wash the windshields of idling cars and demand payment.
As environmentally friendly as the no-litter policy might be, it is still raising the ire of some visitors who say the ban is nothing more than a way to drive tourist into expensive cafes, which surround the monuments and that tack on a pricey surcharge for their outdoor tables.
Another concern is enforcement. Police in Rome admit that the new ban will be hard to enforce given the abundance of tourist sites in the city and the high number of foreigners that visit the city during the summer. (According to city leasers, in just the first five months of 2008, at least 7.6 million people visited Rome.)
Police say they are focusing their attention on the Spanish Steps where they are cracking down on tourists sipping drinks while sitting on the 18th-century stairway that is a symbol of the city. But by concentrating their attention on the one site other areas in the center of Rome are going largely unpatrolled.
Bottom line: If you want to take a soda and sandwich break in Rome, don’t do so on the Spanish Steps.
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