Two surfers caught and fined for surfing in the Grand Canal in Venice
In the past, visitors have been in trouble for swimming in the canals, posing topless on a war memorial and vandalizing property. It was thought that these were the worst tourist behavior ever in the city. However, fast-forward to now and two people recently decided to go surfing, not at the beaches the city offers, but up the Grand Canal.
Reportedly, the two were seen riding eFoils (electric surfboards raised out of the water on hydrofoils) and they were caught on camera heading up and down the canal. Meanwhile, the Grand Canal isn’t just the center of the UNESCO World Heritage site, lined with historical buildings, but is also the main thoroughfare of the historical city.
Locals captured video footage of surfers
Various locals captured the incident in Venice on video. The footage revealed them dodging a vaporetto (water bus) and a taxi under the Rialto Bridge. However, it also caught them zooming past the Salute basilica, one of Venice’s most iconic sites.
Meanwhile, as the two people passed under the Accademia Bridge, one of them fell off his eFoil. However, in the process, he ensured he held his phone out of the water to continue filming his fellow surfer.
Venice mayor offers free dinner to identify the surfers
Once the Mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro caught the scent of the surfing incident, he tweeted a video of the surfers, dubbing them “Two bullying imbeciles making a mockery of the city.” He further offered a free dinner to anyone who could help identify the surfers.
Ecco due imbecilli prepotenti che si fanno beffa della Città… chiedo a tutti di aiutarci a individuarli per punirli anche se le nostre armi sono davvero spuntate… servono urgentemente più poteri ai Sindaci in tema di sicurezza pubblica!
A chi li individua offro una cena! pic.twitter.com/DV2ONO3hUs— Luigi Brugnaro (@LuigiBrugnaro) August 17, 2022
Culprits caught
It is unclear whether someone took the mayor up on his offer, or if the surfers were caught on the cameras of the Control Room that monitors the city via CCTV. Whichever it was, Brugnaro took to Twitter again later to announce that the two men had been identified. In his tweet, the mayor added:
The two surfboards have been confiscated and soon … those responsible will be in our grasp.
Brugnaro also thanked everyone for their collaboration in the incident,
A proposito dei due “eroi” di stamane, li abbiamo individuati!
Le due tavole sono già state sequestrate e fra poco, senza dare ulteriori dettagli, i responsabili saranno tra le nostre braccia: verranno denunciati come meritano!
Grazie a tutti per la collaborazione.— Luigi Brugnaro (@LuigiBrugnaro) August 17, 2022
Meanwhile, the local newspaper Il Gazzettino later reported the surfers had been caught. Moreover, and this will really hurt, the two eFoils, worth around €25,000 ($25,440) were confiscated for not being insured.
On top of this, each surfer was fined €1,500 ($1,503) for endangering the navigation of the canal. But that’s not all. Both were also hit with an antisocial behavior order and were immediately expelled from the city.
To show how seriously Venice is taking the surfing incident, Venice has also instructed lawyers to start proceedings against the two surfers for damaging the image of the city. The authorities were also going to contact the men’s consulates about the incident.
However, apparently, this isn’t the only incident of bad behavior in Italy this summer. Over the past couple of months, tourists have been seen driving down the Spanish Steps in Rome. They were also seen throwing a scooter down the same steps.
Tourist drives scooter around outside of Pompeiihttps://t.co/kZWf8rcq4D pic.twitter.com/wNVtuRe26e
— Archaeological News, Paranormal, Space and UFO (@nevadaknight67) August 11, 2022
Meanwhile, more tourists were caught riding a scooter around the streets of Pompeii. It seems some people have no respect for history and culture.
The post Two Tourists Caught Surfing The Grand Canal In Venice, Italy appeared first on Tourist Meets Traveler.
