‘Embarrassed’ tourists swim in Venice cemetery as tensions rise with locals: ‘At a loss for words’

Tourists in Europe have once again angered locals with their strange behavior – this time, taking a dip in front of a cemetery in Venice.

Two men, who were seen by passengers on a water bus in the Italian city, left their clothes in front of the San Michele cemetery last week and waded into the murky water.

Isola di San Michele, which consists of a cemetery and a church, is an island in the Venetian lagoon, located between Venice and Murano.

Tourists flock to the island to see the graves of famous people, including the famous Russian-born composer Igor Stravinsky.

A Venetian labeled the behavior as “disgraceful. Rude Ignorant”, while another, who admitted to being poor, said that the tourists had “no respect at all”.

“I’m lost for words,” wrote a third.

“In other countries, they would have been arrested, heavily fined and then sent home in a boot,” argued a fourth.

People are only allowed to swim in certain areas of Venice, such as public beaches, and not canals or other bodies of water in residential areas of the city, both because of boats and unsanitary conditions.

For this you can be fined and banned from the city.

Tensions are already high between tourists and locals at the point of Italian holidays.

It is widely accepted that there is a major problem with tourism in Venice, however, how to deal with it is a controversial issue.

For the first time this year, Venice introduced an $8 entrance fee for day trippers during peak season. Tour groups are also limited to 25 people.

Venice is not the only city facing overtourism concerns, with holiday hotspots around the world desperately looking for new ways to cope with a massive boom in post-Covid tourism.

Meanwhile, the locals are getting fed up.

Last month, diners in the Spanish city of Barcelona were doused with water pistols and a tourist was criticized as an “absolute disgrace” for climbing a statue to perform lewd poses in Florence, Italy.

Photos of the woman with a statue of Bacchus, the Roman god of wine, were shared on the ‘Welcome to Florence’ Instagram page, which has more than 200,000 followers.

In one image, the woman had her legs wrapped around the statue’s waist and her arms around his neck as she appeared to kiss him.

In a second image, the woman was crouched with her back pressed against the statue.

“This is the result of years of trying to turn Florence into Disney World,” read one headline.

“Yuck, Florence is becoming a circus,” wrote another offended local.

Oslo in Norway has cleverly used the crowding issue in other European cities to its advantage.

Its latest tourism ad stars an expressionless 31-year-old resident named Halfdan, who claims that Norway’s capital feels more like a village than a city.

“If you don’t have to stand in line for a few hours, is it worth seeing?” he says visiting a museum.

Turning to dining, Halfdan laments, “Sometimes I just walk in off the street and get a table, and I’m not even famous. I mean, what does that tell you?”