Behind the postcard of Venice, with its sumptuous palaces and legendary gondolas, lies a much less glamorous reality… The proof with this crop of divers in the canal.
Like every year for the past 7 years, the city of Venice is preparing for the big summer rush when millions of tourists will descend on the streets of the Serenissima and, at the end of April, a major operation to clean the multiple canals took place thanks to specialized divers. And their harvest is surprising…
Who would have thought that the waters of Venice – surveyed by gondoliers paid a fortune – were home to what amounts to an aquatic waste disposal site? According to the spokesperson for the city’s mayor, the divers who clean the canals (there are 183 of them) over several days bring anything and everything to the surface. “We are doing this for the seventh year in a row. And, each time, we bring back thousands of tons of waste”he informed the site Nieuwsblad.
And if the most frequently found objects are quite classic – bicycles that have fallen over or cell phones that have slipped from the hands of unattentive tourists – some are very unusual. In addition to plastic packaging, the city’s cleanliness teams often find cans, empty cigarette packets or even underwear of all kinds at the bottom of the water. But the more time passes, the larger the objects become in the canals of the City of the Doges: refrigerator, engine parts, tires used to avoid damaging the edges of the boats, electronic devices…
If tourists are singled out, locals are also in the municipality’s sights. “A washing machine, like the one found today, cannot come from a tourist”said Luigi Brugnaro. And for him to add: “We also found half an engine and a radiator…” Even more unusual, it is not uncommon for sex toys to be brought to the surface!
But throwing something into the canal in Venice can be costly if the police see it. The fine can thus rise up to 350 euros. For what is brought up by the divers, the premises are called upon because, for example, chairs and tables found in the water may belong to restaurateurs. An auction is also organized. Anything that is no longer usable will go to the recycling center or incinerator.
