Venice finally bans cruise ships from its lagoon
For years, campaigns to oust cruise ships from the [Venice] lagoon have been gaining traction, with locals claiming that the ships' massive structures erode the seabed, effectively turning the lagoon into an offshoot of the Adriatic Sea. And now, finally, the Italian government has agreed with them, passing a decree to ban cruise ships and other large vessels from the lagoon.
[…] For those on a Mediterranean cruise, it's one of the most memorable sights: the city of Venice unpeeling beneath the boat, the centuries-old buildings and bell towers dwarfed by the ship, giving onlookers a spectacular bird's eye view.
But for many on the shore, cruise ships in Venice have come to symbolize the excesses of modern tourism -- the type that can unleash thousands of visitors on a city ill equipped to deal with them on a "hit and run" visit to see the sights, but not spend any money in the local economy.
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In a statement released to Reuters, the government said that it wanted to "reconcile the needs to protect the artistic, cultural and environmental heritage of Venice and its lagoon with those related to cruise activity and goods traffic."
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A new port in the Adriatic Sea
The government will now hold public consultations about the possibility of building terminals outside the lagoon.
This means that previous plans to route ships to Marghera and Fusina -- both on the mainland, but inside the Venice lagoon -- will not be possible.
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The tension between those pro and anti cruise ships has been mounting in recent weeks.
Over 4,000 locals work at the port, and are among the Venetians who have lost their livelihoods during the Covid-19 pandemic.
But others, backed up by UNESCO, say that the ecological damage being caused by the cruise ships -- and the overtourism that they contribute to -- must carry more weight.
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'A capital of sustainability'
Most Venetians were hopeful at the news. Valeria Duflot, founder of social enterprise Venezia Autentica, called it "positive news" but added that "this should not be greenwashing but a real step in the right direction."
She called for the city and port authority to ban any new channels being dug in the lagoon, and to create "cold-ironing infrastructures" which would allow ships to connect to electrical power when docked, rather than keeping their engines running.
She also called for cruise companies to contribute financially to the new port, and for a "low impact shuttle system" to be brought in for tenders taking passengers into the lagoon.
"Venice claims to want to become a capital of sustainability," she added.
"Regulating the cruise industry is a crucial step to do so. As one of the main ports of the Mediterranean, Venice has the power to move the needle.
"We're asking the city to be courageous and set an example."
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This is an excerpt from an article originally written by Julia Buckley and published by CNN.
