I live in Italy – the five ways tourists could get arrested on holiday including fancy dress and taking pictures
HOLIDAY-MAKERS heading to Italy have been warned they could get arrested for wearing fancy dress and taking pictures.
Crimes also include jumping on fountains and sitting on monuments such as capital Rome‘s Spanish Steps, it has been revealed.
A TikToker warned anyone eyeing up a trip to Italy needs to be wary of being tripped up by common holiday activities as they could land them in hot water.
Social media user @testacinna set out the five surprise risks of a fine when in Rome in a 33-second clip attracting almost 60,000 “likes”.
The first she listed was dressing up as a gladiator and taking photos, due to a law she says is meant “to protect tourists from street scams”.
People are banned from wearing beachwear in the city centre and also from drinking out of a glass in the streets after 10pm in summer.
A new law introduced in 2018 makes it a further crime to sit on the Spanish Steps in the heart of the capital.
She said: “There are always police guarding the Spanish Steps – it’s forbidden to sit on this famous monument.”
And she warned: “Rome’s fountains may look inviting in the hot weather but if you jump in them, you’ll get arrested.”
Her post has provoked almost 400 comments, with many insisting they had previously sat on the Spanish Steps with no penalty.
But the TikToker insisted cops were now cracking down harder.
She said: “They are a lot more strict these days.
“These days there really is zero tolerance.”
Responses to the clip included “Rome has some of the dumbest laws” and “But they don’t arrest pickpockets”.
But another said: “Some ill-behaved tourists should stay home.”
An American woman was fined £430 last summer for throwing an e-scooter down the Spanish Steps causing £20,000-worth of damage.
In recent years the monument has been given a £1.2million restoration paid for by the high-end jewellery firm Bvlgari.
Travel experts last week warned about the top ten European hotspots to avoid for fear of scams, with Italy ranking third on the list behind France and second-placed Spain.
Seaside chiefs in Spain have told boozy Brits this summer they face four-figure fines if trying to sleep off hangovers on the beach.
There have also been threats of financial penalties for driving topless and for listening to music.
