An American tourist has been fined €450 (£385) for breaking one of Rome’s “urban decorum” rules by eating an ice-cream on the steps of a fountain.
The 55-year-old, who also had a beer in hand, was reprimanded by police in the early hours of Saturday at the Fontana dei Catecumeni, on a small, picturesque square in the Monti neighbourhood.
Built by Battista Rusconi in 1589, the fountain is a popular spot for people to gather around at night, but it was sealed off on Friday to prevent anyone from sitting on the steps.
The tape had reportedly been removed, leaving the man unaware that he was about to commit an infraction when he sat down at about 1am.
According to the newspaper la Repubblica, he did not move when warned by police, so they responded by issuing him with a fine.
The man said he did not know he was violating a ban on eating, drinking and sitting at Rome’s fountains, part of a slew of rules introduced by the then mayor Virginia Raggi in 2017, as she tried to restore decorum to the Italian capital.
The rule was among those updated from legislation first drafted in 1946, which included a ban on wheeled suitcases and buggies being dragged down historic staircases, walking around bare-chested, swimming in fountains, and pub crawls.
The restrictions even clamped down on the Roman custom of hanging out laundry to dry between neighbouring buildings.
People have been banned from sitting on the Spanish Steps since 2018. In June, an American tourist was fined for hurling an electric scooter down the Unesco world heritage site, reportedly causing €25,000 of damage. Two weeks earlier, a visitor from Saudi Arabia drove a Maserati down the steps.
