Death In Venice
A mock funeral was staged in Venice on Saturday with grim-faced residents escorting a red coffin on a gondola through the famous canals.
The demonstration was designed to highlight Venice’s shrinking native population. The number has dropped from about 300,000 in the 1950s to some 60,000 today. The average age is 60. Newsweek magazine recently reported that by 2030 there might not be a single native Venetian left.
There are a number of reasons for the decline. Rents and property prices have become so expensive that many locals are priced out and forced to move to a cheaper location.
Rising water levels have also been a cause for concern, with many Venetians unwilling to buy a home that may not be usable in the future.
While the population has been dropping off, the number of tourists visiting Venice has been soaring every year – about 55,000 arrive each day. Venetian business owners used to charge higher prices to tourists, but are now charging those prices to locals, too, in the struggle to get by.
After travelling along the Grand Canal, the demonstrators left the coffin outside the town hall, hoping the gesture will publicise the plight of a city that’s been described as ‘a museum struggling to survive in a modern age’.
by Andy Moreton
It remains one of the most remarkable cities in the world and Luxique has a varied selection of the finest luxury hotels in Venice.
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Pingback by Venice Funeral for Declining Population | Luxique Luxury Travel — November 18, 2009 @ 4:47 am
Venice is not the only major city in Europe with a major population decline. This seems to be trend with the local population.
Pingback by malta travel guide — March 31, 2010 @ 6:36 am