the floor of the Trevi Fountain square It’s been a while since he stopped seeing each other. By day, the human occupation per square centimeter makes it practically impossible for the ‘sanpietrini’ —those little cobblestones that can still be walked on in many streets in the center of Rome—, to caress the sun, except on rare occasions. The same happens on the sidewalks of the central Via del Corso, in the surroundings of the Coliseum, in front of the Pantheon and in the Plaza de España. To the left, to the right and in the middle, in a group, in pairs or alone, a tidal wave of tourists walk, stop and… clic. goodbye pandemic and welcome ‘selfie’ in front of the fountain in which Anita Ekberg he bathed or on the steps he was walking on John Keats (although fewer and fewer people remember both).
The newspapers no longer write about the subject and the matter has already ceased to surprise the Romans as well. What happens every day is not news or cause for debate. More of 15 million people visited the capital of Italy in 2022 (176% more than in 2021) and there have hardly been any low seasons (that is, those seasons in which there are supposed to be fewer tourists). And 2023 is on track to repeat or exceed the trend, hoteliers also say.
Ovidio De Ierolamo, owner of a hotel in the venice square and another in the navona square, which he has managed since 2010, says that the novelty is in these figures. “The truth is that there have always been tourists in Rome, but never before have there been so many; never. It is like this since the restrictions have been lifted. Since then, more and more people have not stopped arriving, ”he says. “It’s crazy. In our case we already have it. all rented until june and for September we already have more than half of the rooms reserved. The forecast is that our gross profits will experience a growth of between 25 and 30%, compared to the years before the pandemic, ”he says.
Olympos modernos
Dying of success may be the problem. Hostels and restaurants lament staff shortages; the workers (some) say it is due to the low wages paid. Old problems are still unresolved. The result is that the sector needs 15,000 waiters and can’t find them, as the president of the Fiepet Confesercenti union, Claudio Pica, has complained. “It is necessary that we study a new type of contract for these workers. Overtime on holidays must be deducted”, Pica has boldly suggested, without yet having any response.
Neither are few who wonder if the Eternal City Will the arrival of such a large number of people withstand, and what effects will the phenomenon have on the rise in prices of restaurants, bars and accommodation, as well as on the proliferation of stalls souvenirs and for the (already very high) real estate prices in which the residents of the central areas live.
A separate issue is the large number of garbage generated and that the cleaning service of the Roman City Hall barely manages to collect from the streets, although the authorities do not like to answer questions of this type. It is not uncommon to see overflowing waste containers in front of a Bernini or the Pantheon, perhaps the most fascinating and seductive temple in Rome. A site that -do not forget- portrayed for centuries the many Olympus of the towns that the Empire conquered.
‘Itañol’ on the plane
The planes do not stop landing in the capital of Italy. In all of 2022, almost 33 million passengers disembarked in the city were reached, according to figures from Assoaeroporti. And Ryanair, the airline that transports the most passengers in Italy, has announced the opening of 16 new routes to Rome, as well as an increase in the frequency of flights on another 16 routes, together with an investment of 1,500 million euros in the two airports of the Italian capital. They will join those who arrive by boat, train or car.
“There are too many people”. It is a phrase that we hear and repeat these days in Rome, but also in Paris, Barcelona or Madrid. In reality, what perhaps escapes us is that there are many people who migrate between these cities as their grandparents used to do when they went from one town to another. The Hungarian company WizzAir understood this very well, which, in full expansion (it used to lead only in Eastern Europe), announced that it will bring the number of its routes to Rome to 66 by the summer of 2023. Last year it opened the one linking Rome and Madrid. On those planes it is not uncommon to hear children talking a mixture of Italian and Spanish. they call it ‘itañol’.