Rome orders trinket sellers out of tourist sites

SOUVENIR stalls that sell key rings, fridge magnets and figurines of Jesus giving a thumbs-up and a cheery wink outside Rome’s most famous monuments have been given their marching orders by the city’s mayor.

The stands, pitched in front of the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and within some of the Italian capital’s most picturesque piazzas, have been branded as eyesores.

The stalls, crammed with rosary beads, plastic statues of Michelangelo’s David and plumed centurions’ helmets, often spoil the views of some of the city’s most celebrated sights.

Rome council is also calling for the removal of vans that sell visitors drinks and snacks near the Colosseum and Circus Maximus, the ancient arena where chariots once raced.

“They ruin the image of Rome,” said Virginia Raggi, the mayor of the city and a member of the Five Star Movement, which governs at a national level in coalition with the hard-right League party. “For years, the monuments of the city have been tarnished by vendors who sell trinkets in front of Rome’s architectural jewels.”

At least half the stalls and snack vans will have to move to new locations, but stall owners were dismayed by the announcement. “This has been in my family for seven generations,” said Angelo Di Porto, 40, who runs a stall at the Trevi Fountain. “We pay rent and taxes so we are a legitimate business.”

The majority of the stall owners are Jewish – the Vatican gave them their licences in the 19th century, when it was considered unseemly for Catholics to sell religious paraphernalia.