The municipal administration in Venice has issued yet another kayak ban in the city.
Their previous attempt failed disastrously in court. The tribunal decided that they had failed to prove that a kayak is more dangerous than many other vessels the city happily allows in the canals.
This time their reasons are these:
kayaks [and others] … are likely to cause damage to the decorous image of the historic city which, disregarding the uniqueness of its structure, is comparable to any other art city in Europe.
Comune di Venezia, Ordinanza 390/2019
Given what has just happened, it can hardly be more absurd.
Danger?
The danger kayaks pose to the image of the city of Venice should maybe be seen in relation to yesterday’s events.
The video shows the MSC Opera crashing into the pier in Venice on June 2nd, 2019 (yesterday).
Maybe the city should have cared a little more about the timing of their harassment of small environmentally friendly businesses.
This has only just happened today, so we do not yet know what the full impact will be on our business, but it will be devastating. Tours in Venice city is about 90% of our business.
We can still, and will at least for a while, offer tours in the Venetian lagoon.
The entire document can be downloaded here (in Italian).
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