Halloween may be long gone, but Italy is having a Frankenstein moment of its own right now. It created a monster that it doesn’t know how to contain: alfresco dining.
Although eating a meal outside might not seem comparable to a hulking beast that ravages through town, residents of Florence are starting to see the similarities. They say it’s disruptive and ugly, making it a generally undesirable addition to their city, and are calling on the council to ban it.
Florence city council has listened to those complaints, and responded by announcing that from next year, outdoor dining will be banned on 50 historic streets and piazzas. Seventy more spots will be subject to intensified regulations, like limits on barriers and umbrellas, the Times reports.
No one seems very happy about this outcome. The locals who initially made the complaints say that it doesn’t go far enough to prevent labyrinths of tables forming on busy streets, and businesses are concerned that these restrictions could turn away potential customers and harm the hospitality industry.
One Florence restaurateur even told the Times that outdoor seats are ‘fundamental’ to the success of her business, and many other trattorias. Industry experts are concerned that the push indoors will hit authentic, locally owned restaurants hardest, pushing tourists towards cheap quick fixes and eating into already thin profit margins.
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Locals, however, don’t buy it. In a consultation about outdoor seating, residents told city officials that their streets had become ‘an obstacle course’; forced to weave in and out of tables, menus, and fences to get anywhere.
Florence’s tourism chief, Jacopo Vicini, said that restricting alfresco dining would ‘protect public spaces and Florentine heritage’, and make the city more liveable for residents.
Where in Florence will outdoor dining be banned?
The ban will target historic sites and very narrow streets. Iconic spots like the Palazzo Vecchio, Ponte Vecchio, and the Piazzale degli Uffizi, will be included.
In places where outdoor dining isn’t banned, businesses could be asked to remove large fences or barriers between tables, as well as weather coverings and umbrellas.
The fate of the city’s largest squares, like the piazzas Signoria, Santa Maria Novella, Pitti and Repubblica, is yet to be determined, but a decision should be reached before the end of the year.
Did you see that this summer hotspot has been named Europe's most underrated winter city break?
Plus: Italian food is set to get Unesco-listed status.
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