Rome bans souvenir stands at popular tourist sights

Stalls are ‘incompatible with decorum and security’ says mayor

Souvenir stalls have been told to move away from attractions (Getty Images)

Rome has banned souvenir stands at some of the city’s most popular tourist attractions, including the Spanish Steps and the Pantheon.

The mayor of the Italian capital, Virginia Raggi, has said the stalls are “incompatible with decorum and security”, adding that the decision had been taken to “protect the cultural and monumental heritage of the capital, as well as public safety in crowded areas”.

The new rules apply to 17 vendors in total, all at high-profile sites such as the Trevi Fountain and the Piazza Navona.

Coming into force on 1 January, the rules stipulate that vendors must move to other sites, although eight will be allowed to trade on streets nearby their original pitch.

The stalls in question sell an array of souvenirs, including Colosseum statuettes and mini figures of the Pope and Donald Trump.

Ms Raggi has been keen to rid attractions of these stalls since last year, when she said: “For years, the monuments of the city have been tarnished by vendors who sell drinks, panini and trinkets in front of Rome’s architectural jewels. This is no longer tolerable.”

The vendors themselves have argued that they provide tourists with a service.

“This has been in my family for seven generations,” Angelo Di Porto, who has a stall next to the Trevi Fountain, told The Telegraph.

He added that the stand was a “legitimate business” that pays rent and a range of taxes.

The ban comes hot on the heels of a host of other measures aimed at improving the “decorum” of Rome, which struggles with its vast number of annual visitors.

In June 2019, the new raft of rules was announced, including bans on men going topless in public; the practice of attaching “love padlocks” to bridges; eating messy foods around popular tourist attractions such as the Trevi Fountain; wheeling suitcases and prams down the Spanish Steps; and touching your lips against the spout when drinking from Roman public water fountains.