Mayor of Florence will hose down tourists who sit on church steps

By Amy Nelmes Bissett|

Just a few days after a Swiss town has banned tourists from taking photos, the Mayor of Florence has announced plans to hose down visitors who sit on church steps in the city.

Yep, we're talking a good old-fashioned garden hosing to wash out tourists who, Dario Nardella claims, lack "respect decorum" by sitting outside Florence's grand churches.

His pet peeve is that many tourists are using the sites as picnic spots and leaving their rubbish behind.

So, each lunch time the steps of many churches will be washed down so people won't be able to sit down and eat their lunch there.

The steps of the Basilica of Santa Croce, where Michelangelo is buried, will be the first to get the water treatment, he told The Guardian.

"We have nothing against tourists. We know that they are a great resource for our city,” he said.

“But there is a problem with respecting decorum. The majority of visitors are respectful and elegant. But there has been an increase among those who don’t respect our cultural heritage, who sit down on church steps, eat their food and leave rubbish strewn on them.”

His solution? Well, Dario claims there's no law stopping visitors eating a sandwich as they walk. Eat and walk, people.

He added: "We want to put people off from camping out. If they sit down, they’ll get wet. Instead of imposing fines, we thought this measure was more elegant."
