Some gondoliers in Venice, Italy have claimed that “overweight” tourists are creating a host of problems, forcing them to reduce passenger capacity for safety reasons.
In a recently announced policy change, Venetian boatmen will have to reduce passenger seats from six to five in the smallest gondola da nolo, The Guardian reported Tuesday. Accommodation in the largest gondola da parade, which is often used to navigate the Grand Canal, has also been removed from 14 to 12.
“It is true that compared to 10 or 15 years ago, tourists weigh a little more,” said Andrea Balbi, president of the Venice gondolier association.
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“It is true that compared to 10 or 15 years ago, tourists weigh a little more,” Andrea Balbi, president of the Venice gondolier association, told the media. “Unlike an elevator, where there is a message that says ‘only six people or a maximum weight’, we do not have scales to weigh people, so we reduced the number of passengers.”
If there is too much weight in the gondola, the water will flood the boat and the sinking is “dangerous”, explained Raoul Roveratto, president of the association of substitute gondoliers.
“Tourists are now overweight and those arriving from certain countries are bombs,” Roveratto told La Repubblica, according to a translation in the Daily Mail.
Tourists enjoy a gondola ride in front of Saint Mark’s Square during Italian Republic Day on June 2 in Venice, Italy.
(Simone Padovani / Awakening / Getty Images)
In related nautical news, another policy was recently passed to allow children of the city’s gondoliers to take over their parents’ licenses without taking a challenging theory test on history and foreign languages, The Guardian reported.
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Now, novice gondoliers must demonstrate that they can row the boat and have at least four years of experience operating their family’s gondola.
Although anyone can apply for the job, maritime trade remains largely insular within the floating city gondolier families.
“It is about continuing a tradition. Who better than a gondolier can know the profession of a gondolier? Balbi said of the family ties. “It would be like a pizza maker who is not from Naples.”
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