Italy’s culture minister calls for immediate ban on cruise ships in Giudecca Canal
Venice: Italy must act fast to avoid Venice being placed on the UNESCO endangered list due to the presence of giant cruise ships, Italian culture minister Dario Franceschini has said.
The minster’s intervention came after UNESCO said it would consider placing Venice on its endangered list during the organisation’s plenary session in mid-July, unless Italy issues a permanent ban on cruise ships docking in the canal city, reports Italian news agency ANSA.
Franceschini wrote on Twitter last night: “After today’s UNESCO decision, the risk of seeing Venice registered in July in the List of World Heritage in Danger compels us to take a further step, immediately prohibiting the passage of large ships in the Giudecca Canal.”
In March the government approved definitive measures to ban the giant cruise ships from the city’s historic area, including around Piazza S. Marco, sanctioning €2.2 million to construct mooring points outside the lagoon.
For the duration of the construction works, large passenger ships were to be stopped from docking or sailing near the historic centre, and diverted to the industrial port at Marghera, about 10 km away on the mainland.
However it was not made clear at the time that the plan was long-term, rather than immediate, and in early June Venice received its first visit from a cruise ship since the covid-19 pandemic began, sparking major demonstrations in the canal city.
“Unfortunately, the UNESCO decision has been in the air for some time,” Franceschini told ANSA, adding that the move would be a “very serious matter for our country, there is no more time to hesitate.”
The minister described the government’s latest decree as an “important step” but stressed “we must do more and immediately prevent the passage of large ships in the Giudecca canal.”
The UN heritage organisation says “a long-term solution is needed urgently” to prevent cruise ships from accessing the lagoon by “redirecting them to more suitable ports in the area.”
Recently celebrities and cultural figures – including Mick Jagger, Francis Ford Coppola and Tilda Swinton – signed an open letter calling for a complete ban on large vessels docking in Venice.
The letter to the Italian government, organised by the Venetian Heritage Foundation, said Venice risked being “swept away” by cruise ships, which environmenalists say are eroding the foundations of the lagoon city.
