(ANSA) - Moves to ban streethawkers and artists from Rome's Piazza Navona, known by millions of tourists as the city's most picturesque square, have provoked a chorus of protests.
Earlier this week the city council gave an initial green light to measures aimed at clearing the historic square of many of the colourful figures who fill it every evening, hoping to sell their wares to visitors.
Piazza Navona, which has Bernini's famous Four Rivers fountain at its centre, is especially crowded at night with painters and artists of varying talents who offer to do on-the-spot portraits as souvenirs of Rome.
There are also dozens of Italians and immigrants hawking cheap souvenirs, fake handbags and conjuring tricks while others offer to tell tourists' fortunes. Some residents have complained in recent years that these days there are simply too many people thronging the baroque piazza every night, turning a delightful spot into a chaotic ruck.
"One of the most beautiful piazzas in the world will finally be treated with respect. This is a very important decision," said Rome mayor Walter Veltroni. Council officials said all the people with permits would be given alternative spots elsewhere in the city, defending the move as an act needed to defend the city's image. A final decision by councillors was expected Friday.
But many of the painters and artists now due to be transferred elsewhere were dismayed. "The council didn't consult us before deciding this," said Virginio, who has sold his pictures there for 37 years.
Some of his colleagues have even started laying out banners on the ground, with messages on them such as "There's no room for us after 40 years" and "Evicted by Veltroni". Some of the bars and restaurants around the piazza were also sympathetic, fearing that fewer artists would mean fewer
tourists. "It's right to move the streethawkers, who ruin the piazza but not the painters. They're part of the atmosphere," said the owner of one of Piazza Navona's most popular cafés.
Meanwhile, rightwing politicians in city hall criticised the centre-left mayor for his drastic approach to the problem of overcrowding in the square. "We don't see what moving away portrait painters and caricaturists will do to improve the look of the square," said Michele Bonatesta of the National Alliance party.
"They're always really appreciated by tourists."
At the heart of the controversy are differing visions of the square, which occupies the site of the ancient Roman Stadium of Domitian and contains Giacomo della Porta's Fontana del Moro and a much-loved Neptune fountain as well as Bernini's masterpiece.
High-brows would like to see it as a showcase for the great art and monuments it contains, while most others think it should also embody, as it does now, the spirit of Rome as one of the most animated but laid-back places in the city. Some think the street vendors reflect Rome's typically
festive, relaxed atmosphere but others say their brashness lowers the tone of the place.
The anti-Veltroni lobby stress that the piazza has always been a fun-loving place, from its origins as a Roman circus to its later incarnation as a site for historic festivals, jousts and open-air sports.
