Florence will ban outdoor dining in 50 streets amid a surge of tourists in the famous Italian city.
Many of the city’s grand piazzas and famous Renaissance statues will no longer be viewable from a dining table as the city council appears set on imposing restrictions following complaints from residents about congestion and creeping visual clutter.
The rules set to come in place next year will ban outdoor seating along 50 streets within the Unesco-protected centre and see stricter regulations imposed on more than 70 additional locations, The Times reports.
The move has sparked outrage from both sides. Locals argue the bans do not go far enough but restaurants say it reduces business.
Daniela, the owner of Ristorante Pizzeria Il David, told The Times her restaurant in Piazza della Signoria could be affected.
“Our outdoor seating is fundamental,” she said.
Daniela, who did not give her last name, said she fits about 60 seats in the outdoor area of her restaurant as it is near the Palazzo Vecchio, a popular tourist destination.
“Something will change, but at the moment we don’t know what,” she said.
The Palazzo Vecchio was built in the 14th century and later modified by the last duke of Tuscany Cosimo I de’ Medici.
Other landmarks that will have outdoor seating banned include the Ponte Vecchio, Piazzale degli Uffizi and the Uffizi Gallery.
Seventy-three other locations will receive strict guidance on whether outdoor seating can include umbrellas or plexiglass barriers.
Regulations will be decided by councillors over the next 30 days on whether plastic weather covering should be eliminated for grand squares including piazzas Signoria, Santa Maria Novella, Pitti and Repubblica.
Meanwhile, restaurants will be encouraged to use grass-like green carpet to show permitted outdoor areas.
A heritage expert at Bologna University, Ilaria Agostini, wrote in the left-wing online magazine La Citta Manifesta that the measure did not go far enough.
However others argue the restrictions will cause a decline in sales for restaurants, particularly those specialising in traditional Florentine dishes such as bistecca alla fiorentina, ribollita and pappa al pomodoro and instead will be replaced by tourist-oriented restaurants serving generic Italian food.
Food writer Leonardo Romanelli complained that true restaurateurs have begun to close.
“They are crushed by impossible costs and by city policies more concerned with the aesthetics of outdoor seating than with the survival of those who brought these spaces to life,” Romanelli told Cibo Today.
