DOs and DON'Ts in Italy today

european | 14.08.2008 23:23 | Repression | World

The Italian Government reacted angrily at a report in Famiglia Cristiana, a Catholic magazine that Fascism was returning under another guise. The Vatican also distanced itself from the report. Antonio Sciortino, Director of the Paulist weekly said he was surprised at the reactions because every citizen should be allowed to assess what the government does “In a normal country” he added “This is part of the free exchange of opinions”

If you are a female foreign student like 28 year old MJP from Peru who teaches catechism after Mass on Sundays, don’t sit down on the steps of a nearby church at five in the afternoon to wait for your friend to come out of work. You could get picked up for prostitution and spend the night in a prison cell, being released at 10.30 the next morning. Just an over-zealous policeman or something more sinister?
Ali' Juburi was not so lucky. He died in L’Aquila prison after 2 months on hunger strike protesting his innocence. Reports are conflicting on what he was convicted for and what his sentence was – 15 months for attempted robbery? 3 years for stealing a mobile phone? Rita Bernardini e Maurizio Turco, Radical party members of the Italian Parliament are asking Italian Ministers of Justice, Home and Foreign Affairs questions about his death, crime and imprisonment. They said: " Ali' Juburi papers were in order only for his death. He was a poor farm worker, from a non-European country, an Iraqi alone in prison. We have asked the Ministers for information on exactly what went on. The clues we have may not say much about Ali' Juburi but they tell us a lot about what Italian citizens and institutions are becoming”
Meanwhile if you are going to Italy, make a note of what’s forbidden

DO NOT
Freshen up in public fountains Fine: 50 - 500 euros
Leave your towel on the beach to mark your place Fine up to 1,000 Euros
Wear clogs/Wooden-soled shoes/sandals in Positano and Capri Fine: 25-500 euros
Picnic on the beach or roadsides in Positano, Ravello, Venice, Capri, Florence. Fine: 25 - 500 euros
Walk about topless (men or women, equal opportunities!!) or in bikini in many beach resorts. Fine: 50 - 1.000 euros
Play beach games like football, beach tennis, boules or other
Build sandcastles, dig holes in the sand, collect seashells or carry off sand inEraclea,Venice Fines: 25 - 250 euros
Dive into the water on many beaches. Fine: 100 -1000 euros
Go nude on the beach in Ravenna. Fine: up to 102 euros
Kiss in cars (or worse) in Eboli (Salerno). Fine: up to 500 euro
Have piercing “that could impair the proper functioning of any part of the body” in Bologna. Fine: to be decided
Hold up the traffic. Designed to put a stop to windscreen washers at traffic lights. Fine: 206 euro
Sell raw food in the summer in Emilia Romagna. Designed to put a stop to people selling water melon or coconut on the beach Fine: up to 206 euro
Sell goods on the beach Fine 250-1,500 euro
Give out leaflets on the beach. Fine: up to 250 euro
Carry goods in large bags, plastic bags or similar in Rome, Venice, Florence and Alassio(Savona) Fine 25 to 50 euros
Bring dogs (even with muzzle) or cats on the beach in Sirolo (Ancona). Fine: up to 155 euros
Have or give massages on the beaches in Tuscany and Romagna. Fine: 2,000-10,000 Euros
Have fireworks at private parties in Positano except on Saturdays. Fine: 50-500 euros
Feed the pigeons in many cities. Fine: 50-500 euros
Cook in beach cabins. Fine up to 1,000 Euros

Take up space within 15 foot of the shore which is reserved for lifeguards moving about Fine 100 - 1.000 euros
Skateboard in downtown Viareggio. Fine: 25 -500 euros
Loiter around in the park in Novara after 11.30 pm if there are more than two of you Fine: 25 - 500 euros
Sit/lie/take up space on park benches in Voghera after 11.00 pm,
Bivouack in the old quarter of Genova between 10.00 pm and 6.00 am . Fine: up to 250 euro.
Put your feet up on park benches in Viareggio at any time of the day or night . Fine: 25 - 500 euros
Sit on the steps in the main square in Capri Fine: 50 euro
Smoke in children’s playgrounds in Verona, Naples and Bolzano. Fine: 25 -500 euros
Smoke on the beach in Is Aruttas (Oristano). Fine: up to 360 euro
Pedal rickshaws along the shore in Mintumo, Latina. Fine 500 euros
Walk on mushrooms growing in Alto Adige. Fine: 113 euro.
Pick wild strawberries, raspberries or any other berries in the Gran Paradiso National Park. Fine: 25 - 1.000 euros

Finders is not keepers for what you come across on the beach or underwater. Fine: up to 1.032 euro
In Forte dei Marmi (Versilia) it is forbidden to use a lawn-mower in the afternoon and at weekends. Fine up to 500 euro

In all Italian towns begging, asking tourists or passers by for coins, money or anything else, carries a fine of between 100 and 1.000 euros. And if despite all these regulations you are thinking of moving to Cittadella (Padova), remember you can’t unless you have a minimum income of 5000 euro

Last but not least do not deface or steal notices forbidding you to do things. Fine: up to 428 euros

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