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Rome’s Mayor Just Ruined Summer by Banning Nighttime Drinking in Public Spaces

July 13, 2017
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2 min read
Piazza della Repubblica in Rome at night.
Rome’s Mayor Just Ruined Summer by Banning Nighttime Drinking in Public Spaces
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If lingering over a bottle of Brunello in Rome’s Piazza di Trevi and living la dolce vita was on your summer to do list, you’d better start making other plans. Less than a month after the city’s mayor, Virginia Raggi, instituted a ban on eating and drinking around the city’s famous fountains for the summer (it officially lifts on October 31, 2017), she has now put the kibosh on the consumption of alcohol on the city’s streets and piazzas — at least at nighttime.

While locals and tourists alike are complaining that the new legislation — which will also remain in effect through the end of October — will ruin one of the warm weather’s most cherished evening activities, Raggi’s reasoning for the ban, according to a statement, is that she doesn’t “want the Roman summer evenings to be ruined by episodes linked to excessive consumption of alcohol.” (How’s that for irony?)

As Italian newspaper The Local reports, “From 10:00pm, it is forbidden to consume alcoholic drinks in glass containers on public streets, while from midnight onwards, the ban extends to any outdoor consumption of alcohol, no matter what the container.” No alcohol will be allowed on public transportation either from midnight to 7:00am.

According to The Independent, individuals caught violating the ban will face fines of more than 150 euros (~$170) while vendors violating the legislation will be charged nearly twice that amount (280 euros, or about $320).

While it’s not the first time the city has attempted to curb public alcohol consumption, it’s certainly the most widespread effort; the new ban is being imposed on 14 of the city’s 15 municipi, or districts. Interestingly, though, the only area not included in the ban is Ottavia, a suburb of Rome, which just so happens to be where Mayor Raggi makes her home. Coincidence? Maybe. But that didn’t stop a flash mob of revelers from descending on the area following the announcement of the new drinking rules and raising their glasses right outside her front door.

H/T: The Independent

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