Rome - You can walk up and down Rome's
famed Spanish Steps all you want but don't try sitting down to
take in the moment any more because police will shoo you away
with a whistle and threaten you with a fine.
City authorities have imposed a new ban at the site, beloved
of tourists and immortalised in the 1953 romantic comedy "Roman
Holiday" with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn.
They say too many people sit down for too long, obstructing
the steps for others, or stop to eat lunches from nearby fast
food joints.
Not everyone was happy with the attempt to restore order,
which began this week.
"I think it's ridiculous, silly," said Thomas Atkins, an
American tourist from Seattle, as he watched police blow
whistles to move people on.
"You're only going to rest for a little while on the stone
anyway and you eventually move along," he said on Thursday.
Vittorio Sgarbi, one of Italy's best known art critics,
called the move "Fascist-like".
Fines for those who do not obey police range from €160 to €400 (about R2 750 to R6 880).
But so far, no signs have been put up
informing tourists about the ban, leaving police with a lot to
whistle about.
Italian tourist Federico Guerrinoni, from northern Italy,
says he agreed with the ban.
"I know it will bother some people, but you could see
something like this coming," he said. "There were a lot of
disrespectful people who were taking pieces of monuments. So a
bit of protection won't hurt," he said.
The 135 steps were built in 1726 to link the piazza at their
base with the Church of the Most Holy Trinity at the top of the
Pincio Hill.
Italians know them as "La Scalinata (Staircase) di Trinità
dei Monti," a reference to the church at the top. In English,
they are known as the Spanish Steps because the Spanish embassy
to the Vatican is located at their base.