Vittoria Risi, a Venezian porn star, and members of Venessia.com, a group of campaigners for the defence of the city of Venice, parade in gondolas during the protest.Credit: AFP
Residents of Venice in northern Italy held an ironic protest on Sunday against rising prices and tourist traffic, saying their picturesque city had become a Disney-like "Veniceland".
"Venice has become an entertainment park for the 20 million tourists that benevolently invade us every year," Matteo Secchi, a spokesman for the Venessia group behind the protest, said in a statement.
The resident population of Venice is only about 59,000.
"All we can do now is hold a party and inaugurate the 'Veniceland' theme park. It's an ironic provocation for the city administration, which appears not to be able to reverse the tendency," he said.
Protesters wearing theme park costumes conducted a procession along the Grand Canal in around a dozen gondolas in front of puzzled tourists and then sold tickets for "Veniceland" at the city's main train station.
Venice mayor Giorgio Orsoni said he would work with Venessia "to find the best solutions for possible action".
"I hope your demonstration will ... use joy, playfulness and good humour to raise the questions that this administration must deal with," he added.
AFP
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