When you’re travelling on a budget, it’s not unheard of to take your own packed lunch to save on restaurant and shop-bought meals – and often that means finding a spot somewhere to sit down at lunch and tuck into your food.
But tourists heading to Florence, Italy, might want to think twice before they sit down to eat their home-packed lunch, as new rules could see them facing hefty fines if they’re found eating their lunch on the city streets.
In fact, Florence is introducing fines of up to €500 for people who are found to be loitering on steps and doorways to eat their food. The rules won’t apply if you’re walking and eating on the go – but they will apply if you’re stationary.
That means if you’re sitting on some steps, in a doorway, or even the city pavements you could be risking punishment.
The new rules have come in after locals have been unable to easily access their homes and buildings because of visitors who are sitting on steps and in doorways, to camp out and eat their picnic.
Then of course there are issues of littering with some people leaving food packaging and general rubbish behind.
The city’s mayor Dario Nardella told The Times : "The new rule is not aimed at tourism in general but at uneducated visitors."
He also explained that "right now residents cannot get into their houses because of the tourists eating on their doorsteps".
Of course the ban won’t affect anyone who’s eating out and about; for example, if you’re walking and eating as you go then the rules don’t apply.
And it seems that not all public spaces will be included, as the focus appears to be on the city pavements, streets and steps/doorways, where loitering can lead to congestion.
It’s not the first time that the city council has spoken out about the issue of visitors stopping on steps and in doorways to eat their food.
Dario Nardella had previously ordered for church steps to be hosed down in a bid to deter tourists from sitting on them for a spot of lunch.
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Florence isn’t the only city to be looking to limit the effect of tourism on its residents.
Earlier this year, Venice rolled out new restrictions for the May Bank Holiday weekend where tourists were denied access to certain streets and instead offered detours to get to some of the biggest sights.
The regulations were by no means permanent, but looked to combat overtourism over the weekend that proves to be one of the city’s busiest.
Mirror Online has reached out to the City of Florence tourist website for comment.
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