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Tourists Who Wade into Rome’s Fountains Face Hundreds in Fines | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Media ID: 55376485
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According to German press agency dpa, the value of the coins
retrieved from the fountain last year was up by more than €100,000 on
the 2013 figure Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images


Rome, London – Rome’s Mayor Virginia Raggi announced that tourists who climb the historic fountains and use them for promenading, will pay a fine that ranges between 40 and 240 euros (5 and 270 US dollar). This decision aims to preserve etiquette, said the mayor.

Reportedly, Raggi has been facing pressures for weeks to take the necessary procedures against those behaviors, amid many reports saying that some people use the fountain for baths, eating snacks, some even climb important touristic features like the Trevi Fountain, and the fountain in Popolo Square.

Raggi’s decree is valid till October 31, and bans behaviors that opposes the logic purpose of the fountains.

Those behaviors include washing clothes and animals, however, it excludes the traditional rituals like throwing coins.

Many Italian cities work very hard to deal with mass tourism, especially during the summer.