The city of Venice issued yet another ban on kayaking in the city canals on June 3rd, 2019, and Venice Kayak has taken the city administration to court yet again.
This is becoming a never ending story.
The short version
The current status is that we can kayak in almost all the minor canals in the city but not paddling in or crossing the Grand Canal and some other more busy (but for us less important) canals.
We can paddle in these canals all day, without limitations.
In practice it means that we can paddle in all of the sestieri Castello and Cannaregio.
Venice Kayak is therefore operating almost as before, except we can go in the Grand Canal.
The detailed version
The city administrations decision 390/2019 of June 3rd contains two parts.
The first is a total ban on kayaking in the Grand Canal and any other canal where public transport is operating, such as the Canale Cannaregio and the Canale Scomenzera. This part is almost certainly instigated by ACTV, the public transport company, which claims that they’ve had problems with kayaks and SUPs getting in the way of the vaporetti. While this might very well be true, as there are other kayak and SUP operators in the city, they haven’t provided any concrete proof of anything. It’s just their word.
The second part limits paddling in a series of named city canals to before 7am and after 5pm, thus basically ruling out paddling in the city during the day. Apparently so, at least.
The relevant disputed words are (translated by VK): “and the remaining canals of the limited traffic area in the lagoon.”
Any normal reading of these words by anybody who knows Venice well, would be that we cannot paddle anywhere within the jurisdiction of the Comune di Venezia, as ‘canal’ would normally be taken to mean generally a waterway.
However, once in court, the city’s lawyers pulled out an alternative interpretation, which we have in writing, that it only refers to the waterways that actually have the word ‘canal’ in their name.
The city administration has also provided us with official maps indicating one (1) such canal in Venice, one (1) in Murano and one (1) in Burano, where we’re therefore not allowed to go between 7am and 5pm. The canal in Burano is closed to normal traffic as there’s a bridge at street level impeding traffic.
In all the other canals, which have the word ‘rio’ in their name instead of ‘canale’, we can go without limitations.
This does make one think that the city didn’t expect us to have the resources to do a second legal recourse, and when we did it anyway, they decided that it was more important saving the first part of the decision than the second, which they have then hollowed out to appease us.
The municipal administration of Venice made an almost total ban on kayaks in the city canals on August 1st, 2018. Venice Kayak took the city to court and on March 20th, 2019, the TAR (tribunale amministrativo regionale – the regional administrative tribunal) sentenced in our favour.
The TAR held a preliminary hearing of the case on July 3rd, because Venice Kayak had requested a temporary suspension of the ban until the actual hearing is scheduled. Unfortunately, the tribunal has not suspended the city decision so for not the ban on kayaks in the city canals stand.
However, it also doesn’t.
Canali and rii
The first part of the ban included a total ban on kayaking on the Grand Canal, the Canale Cannaregio (where we never to) and on any other canals where public transport is running.
The wording of the second part of the ban is as follows, in Italian (translation below), with a list of boat types left out:
Nei rii dei Greci – San Lorenzo, Santa Giustina, Sant’Antonin – Pietà, di Noale – Canale delle Misericordia, Novo-di Ca’ Foscari, dei Santi Apostoli-Gesuiti e nei restanti canali della Z.t.l. lagunare è vietata la navigazione dei natanti denominati … , kayak, … , dal lunedì al venerdì dalle 07.00 alle ore 17.00, e al sabato dalle ore 7.00 alle ore 15.00, festivi esclusi. E’ comunque escluso l’attraversamento del Canal Grande.
Comune di Venezia, ordinanza 390/2019
Our translation in English:
In the rii dei Greci – San Lorenzo, Santa Giustina, Sant’Antonin – Pietà, di Noale – Canale delle Misericordia, Novo-di Ca’ Foscari, dei Santi Apostoli-Gesuiti and in the remaining canals of the limited traffic area of the lagoon, all navigation is forbidden for boats called … , kayak, … , from Monday to Friday from 07:00 to 17:00, and on Satuday from 7:00 to 15:00, holidays excluded. It is in any case excluded crossing the Grand Canal.
For any normal person here in Venice the words “the remaining canals of the limited traffic area of the lagoon” would mean all the waterways of the city of Venice, and of the Lido, the Giudecca, Murano and Burano.
For the city’s lawyers it is not so.
In Venice most canals are denominated rio (plural: rii), like Rio de la Tana, or Rio di San Felice. A few are, however, denominated canale (plural: canali) The reason is historic. The rii were the smaller city canals, and the canali were either larger waterways (like the Grand Canal or Canale Cannaregio) or because centuries ago they were considered canals in the lagoon, not in the city (like Canale di San Pietro).
So what is banned?
For the lawyers of the city administration the words “the remaining canals of the limited traffic area of the lagoon” refers exclusively to the urban canals denominated canale, and not the rii.
They have repeated this numerous times in a brief to the tribunal, and the tribunal has based its decision not to suspend the ban on this reading, which means that the ban only affects a few canals, as shown on the two maps below supplied by the city lawyers to the tribunal.
The canals marked in black are banned at all times for kayaks, either because there are public transport routes there, or because they’re part of the Sestiere San Marco.
The canals marked in red are limited from 7:00 to 17:00 Monday to Friday, and 7:00 to 15:00 on Saturdays.
In Venice city the limited canals are the ones specifically named in the ban, and just one more canal, the Canale di San Pietro, which, lo and behold, is placed just so that it prevents Venice Kayak from entering the city from our base on the Certosa island. Surely just a coincidence that the only additional canal in Venice is the one impeding our work the most.
On Murano the black canals is only a part of where public transport circulates, and the red canals is one with very low intensity traffic. It is very hard to understand why exactly that canal should somehow be more dangerous than many other areas in the city.
On Burano they have banned one canal only. It is a canal blocked by a bridge at street level and some huge posts, so motorised traffic physically cannot pass. Yet, somehow, magically, this canal is much more dangerous for kayaks than the few other canals on Burano where motorboats can and do pass.
The mind boggles at the sheer logic and rational thinking behind this.
Compared to last year?
The wording in the June 2019 ban is almost identical to the wording in the August 2018 ban.
The words “the remaining canals of the limited traffic area of the lagoon” are the same in the two texts.
Last year, in several briefs to the tribunal and during the actual hearings, the lawyers of the city didn’t bring out this different reading of the words of the decision of the city administration.
Yet the words are the same.
Somehow in the process, the city’s lawyers have decided that the same words have a very different and unusual meaning.
What’s next?
Venice Kayak has appealed the rejection of the suspension of the ban to the consiglio di stato in Rome. We don’t know when this appeal will be heard.
There will at some point be an udienza di merito, that is, the definitive hearing after which the TAR will in due course publish a sentence. We do not know when that will be.
If you can, please help us cover the expenses for the court case.
Venice Kayak has to modify the range of tours on offer, due to the newest ban in kayaks in Venice. We can no longer do all the tours on all the days.
The municipal administration in Venice has issued yet another kayak ban in the city. Like the last time, they have done so without any kind of warning, literally from one day to the next.
While such procedures might be legally admissible, they are nonetheless morally reprehensible, leaving stakeholders with no time to prepare and adjust.
The hostility is obvious, and the city administration no doubt want to bleed us dry, knowing that we’re a small company with limited resources.
With the new rules, in force from Tuesday, June 4th, we can only paddle in Venice after 5pm on weekdays, after 3pm on Saturdays, and all of Sundays and holidays. We are forbidden 100% on the Grand Canal and a few other of the major canals in the city.
These rules are even more draconian than the rules they issued in a similar manner last year, for which we took them to court and won.
The consequences to our offer of tours in Venice city is this:
On week days (Mon-Fri) we can only do late afternoon tours from 3.30pm to 7pm;
On Saturdays we can do the normal afternoon tour from 2pm to 6pm;
On Sundays and holidays, we can do morning, full day and afternoon tours.
These tours can all be booked from our tour calendar.
Evening tours are still available, but it is no longer possible to go on the Grand Canal, so they’re limited to the smaller canals of Cannaregio and Castello.
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.
The local administration in Venice introduced an almost complete ban on kayaking in Venice city last August, and Venice Kayak has taken the city to court over the ban. We have written about this several time previously.
The TAR Veneto (Tribunale Amministrative Regionale del Veneto) has finally pronounced its sentence, and they have decided in our favour.
In practice this means that Venice now returns to the rules as they were before August 1st, 2018, which allowed kayaking in Venice with some time restrictions.
Below Venice Kayak’s press release of March 20th, 2019, is reproduced.
Venezia, March 20th, 2019
Press release
Venice Kayak Srl, one of the very few zero-impact companies in Venice, which takes pride in the professionalism of its guides and the safety of the clients, has decided to take legal recourse in front of the TAR (the regional administrative tribunal) of the Veneto, against the decision with which the City of Venice – with a measure with no prior warning which entered into force on August 1st, one single day after its publication – has banned, for stated reasons of safety of navigation, kayaks and canoes from transiting the main waterways of the city centre.
The TAR of the Veneto has today, March 20th, 2019, accepted the legal recourse in all in principal points, cancelling the decision. This reinstates the previous rules of navigation, which have in any case proven to be sufficient in assuring the safety of navigation.
In fact – underlines the owner René Seindal – Venice Kayak has never been involved in any accident, nor has it ever received any kind of fine, during its activity.
The company intends, also after the tribunal’s decision, to continue working, focusing on the safety of its clients and not less of everybody else who with whatever means moves on the waters of the city of Venice.
Mr. Seindal continues, adding that the accidents that have happened on the water ways of the City of Venice, have all been between other types of vessels, almost always by motor propulsion, and they are mostly caused by the way the vessels are conducted, and not by the type of vessels.
Venice Kayak has sought a dialogue with the City of Venice well before the publication of the city’s decision, without any result, and the company – the owner guarantees – remains available for the city administration for any dialogue or contribution, to promote the common good of assuring the safety of navigation for all, whether by oar or by motor, large or small.
Mr. Seindal explains: it is not justified punishing and blocking ecologically sustainable activities that do not cause damage to our city, to (maybe) favour who pollutes and causes damaging waves. That way Venice cuts a very poor figure.
The company Venice Kayak has suffered substantial economic damage from the illegitimate acts of the City of Venice, and is has been forced to lay off almost all the employees, all Venetians, some with mortgages and children to maintain.
Now – concludes Mr. Seindal – we hope to be able to return to work with the old professionalism and seriousness, and – he adds – with a serene mind that we will not have our daily bread taken away unjustly from one day to the next.
Venice Kayaks thanks the lawyers Giovanni Falcomer and Francesco Mazzoleni, who have taken care of the technical/legal presentation of the legal recourse at the TAR Veneto, defending the interested of the society.
The local administration in Venice has introduced an almost complete ban on kayaking in Venice city last August, and Venice Kayak has taken the city to court over the ban. We have written about this several time previously.
The definitive hearing of the TAR (Tribunale Amministrative Regionale del Veneto) was held on February 6th, 2019, after a preliminary hearing on October 3rd, 2018. This which is very soon as these administrative cases can often take years here in Italy.
There is no final sentence yet, however, and there is little certainty about when it will be published.
Formally the judges have sixty days from the final hearing to publish their decision, but as the law doesn’t stipulate any consequences for not abiding by the limit it is not always respected, so the sentence could be published tomorrow, or in months time.
The city administration of Venice has issued an almost total ban on kayaking for entirely fictitious reason of safety of navigation. We have written about it previously on August 1st , August 6th, September 9th, and September 23rd.
The TAR Veneto (Tribunale amministrativo regionale del Veneto) has held a preliminary hearing on October 3rd, to express judgment on the suspension of the kayaking ban awaiting the final hearing which will lead to the final judgment in the case.
The outcome was neither victory nor defeat.
The judges decided to non suspend to city’s ban on kayaking, but to hold the final hearing in the case, leading up to the final judgment, on February 6th, 2019, at 9am.
The final judgment will be issued sometimes afterwards, in principle the day after, but more likely one to two months later. We might only know the outcome around Easter 2019, even though we hope it will be earlier.
The city administration of Venice has issued an almost total ban on kayaking for entirely fictitious reason of safety of navigation. We have written about it here (Aug 1st) and here (Aug 6th) and here (Sep 9th).
This post explains in more details where you can go kayaking and when in Venice with the August 1st 2018 ban in force.
The current situation
Kayak bans in Venice 2018
The canals in black have a total ban, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, no exceptions. The ‘black’ canals arethe Grand Canal in Venice, Canale Cannaregio and all the canals in the Sestiere San Marco. The Grand Canal on Murano is also black, and so is for a period in the summer the canal on the Lido di Venezia which leads to the Venice Film Festival venue.
The ‘violet’ canals are off limits from 7am-5pm on Monday-Friday, 7am-1pm on Saturday and free on Sundays and national holidays. This limitation covers all day light hours for most of the year, making it practically as bad as the total ban on the ‘black’ canals, except for a short period around summer solstice.
The canals painted brown are the ones that are either unreachable due to the limitations of ‘black’ and ‘violet’ canals, or which becomes de facto dead ends because they lead to a ‘black’ or ‘violet’ canal with no way forward.
In the ‘red’ canals kayaks are banned 8am-3pm on Monday-Friday, 8am-1pm on Saturday and free on Sundays and national holidays. These canals are all the remaining canals in Venice, and also included the Giudecca, Murano, Burano and the Lido di Venezia.
There are no canals in Venice without restrictions.
How it was before
Comparing with the previous situation the scope of the August 1st ban becomes obvious.
Kayak bans in Venice 2015
Before August 1st, 2018, it was possible to paddle the entire city, with some limitations on the main canals 8am-3pm Monday-Friday, 8am-1pm Saturday, while Sunday and national holidays were free. It was possible to cross the Grand Canal in a handful of spots, even in the period when navigating along the canals was illegal.
The city of Venice has gone from a situation of almost free albeit regulated paddling, to almost totally illegal with just a few exceptions of limited applicability.
The following press release announcing the legal recourse at the TAR Veneto against the decision 433/2018 of the City of Venice, has been sent to the local Venetian press on Monday, September 3rd, 2018:
Venice Kayak Srl, one of the very few zero-impact companies in Venice, which takes pride in the professionalism of its guides and the safety of the clients, has decided to take legal recourse in front of the TAR (the regional administrative tribunal) of the Veneto, against the decision with which the City of Venice – with a measure with no prior warning which entered into force on August 1st, one single day after its publication – has banned, for stated reasons of safety of navigation, kayaks and canoes from transiting the main waterways of the city centre.
However – underlines the owner René Seindal – Venice Kayak has never been involved in any accident, nor has it ever received any kind of fine, during its activity.
Mr. Seindal continues adding that the accidents that have happened on the waterways of the City of Venice, have all involved other types of vessels and are for the most part provoked by the way the boats have been conducted, certainly not by the type of boat.
From this derives the necessary formal reaction of the company which, through its lawyers Giovanni Falcomer and Francesco Mazzoleni, has presented a legal recourse at the Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale against the decision.
We all agree that it is right to guarantee the safety and preserve the beauty of the historical centre of Venice, says Venice Kayak, but this is certainly not achieved by banning from one day to the other, the smallest boats – in number and dimension – from transiting in good order along most of the waterways of the centre.
Very different measures were expected, directed at confronting the danger of accidents.
Further – and not a secondary thing – the company offers a niche service to its clients, giving work to several persons.
The consequence is – closes the owner of the company – that the possibilities of finding itineraries for the clients are reduced to almost nothing, and it will force Venice Kayak to reduce its activity drastically, laying off highly qualified employees, while accidents will continue to happen between other types of boats, non of which are afflicted in any way in this decision of the city administration.
There will be a court hearing soon, where the request for the urgent suspension of the decision of late July will be discussed.
The City of Venice has introduced a ban on kayaks and other small boats in practically all the city canals. The change of rules were announced less than 24 hours before they bacame operative, so we have had very little time to adjust.
According to the new rules, we are no longer allowed on the Grand Canal and a handful of other canals where we rarely go. The few canals where there were some time limits earlier, have had those limits tightened, and further time limits have been introduced in all the remaining canals.
We are no longer allowed anywhere in the city of Venice, or on Murano, Burano, the Giudecca or the Lido before 3pm (1pm on Saturdays), and we can only paddle in four distinct ‘reservations’ after 3pm.
Naturally, taxis and other high powered motorboats are free to roam the city day and night.
This is a very severe restriction on our movement, and it leaves us very little room to still offer tours in the city.
In the city of Venice we can still do the afternoon tours (with meeting time on the Certosa at 2.15pm or 2.45pm), but with a limited itinerary as we’re restricted to just one of the four ‘reservations’ in which kayaking is allowed after 3pm.
We should also be able to do the mixed lagoon and Venice on weekends and national Italian holidays.
What we cannot do with the new rules
We cannot do any of the old tours that entered the city canals before 3pm.
These include the morning tours (except maybe on Sundays), midday tours, full day tours and history tours.
We cannot do evening tours any more, at least not as we’ve done in the past, since the Grand Canal is now off limits 24/7.
We cannot do any bespoke tours to the Giudecca, Lido or Murano before 3pm.
Our future plans
We don’t know what the future will bring, and working under a municipal administration that active favours the powerful lobbies with the huge motorboats, at the cost of those who try do
The city of Venice has administratively issued a total ban on kayaking in Venice in all the major canals of the city, including the Grand Canal, only allowing kayaking in some of the smaller canals after 3pm.
The ban was published on Tuesday, July 31st, and entered into force on Wednesday, August 1st, less than 24 hours later.
Venice Kayak will therefore as of August 1st only offer short afternoon tours in a limited part of Venice city. All other types of tours if Venice city are as of August 1st suspended.
Tours in the lagoon are not affected.
Venice Kayak has always operated according to the rules and laws of the land, and will continue to do so, in spite of the extremely short warning of less than one working day.
Reasons and justifications
The city administration gives the safety of navigation as the main cause of the ban on kayaking in the city canals, but without giving any concrete examples or explanations.
In the ten years Venice Kayak has operated, there has not been one single serious accident involving a kayak. In the same period there has been numerous serious accidents, in and around the city, also fatal accidents, all inevitably involving motor boats.
Venice Kayaks has never been fined or accused of any wrong doing.
The sources of danger in the water traffic in Venice all stem from too many, too large and too powerful motorboats, too often conducted in a ruthless and reckless way, putting others in danger needlessly.
The response of the city administration is to remove those exposed to the dangers, while doing nothing whatsoever against those who cause the danger.
It is a typical example of victim blaming.
Why not encourage paddling and rowing?
Damages to buildings caused by motorboats.
Rather, rowing and paddling in Venice should be encouraged and supported.
Rowed and paddled crafts have zero environmental impact, and they cause no damage to the city fabric, unlike motorboats whose wake and displacements is grinding down the city.
The presence of kayaks and similar boats in the canals of the city also have a moderating effect on traffic in general. The larger boats, taxis and cargo boats, are forced to go slower because of our presence, thus limiting the damage their boats cause the city.
All other major cities tend to exclude polluting and damaging traffic from the city centres and encourage more environmentally friendly means of transport. Venice now does the opposite. The city of Venice actively excludes most low impact boats, while doing nothing whatsoever to counter the much more damaging motorboats.
Venice Kayak is not opposed to regulation of paddling in Venice, and we have tried to enter into a constructive dialogue with the city administration. We have had a meeting with the official who have signed the new ban on kayaking, but they obviously don’t care.
