Tourists visiting the city of Rome have been left less than impressed after claiming the city is full of scaffolding.
The Italian capital is undergoing a dramatic overhaul in some parts of the city ahead of the Roman Catholic Holy Year in 2025. Parks, streets, rubbish bins and popular tourist sites are being reworked especially for the occasion.
According to reports, this means the city could see up to 32 million tourists pass down the city’s streets as they celebrate the occasion that happens every quarter of a century.
However, the work being undertaken in order to prepare the city for the celebration has led to issues for both tourists and locals leading some to complain about the impact of the work.
Speaking to the Independent, one tourist bemoaned the presence of scaffolding and said they underestimated how much building work would be going on when they arrived in Rome.
Tom Pagano told the publication: “We knew work was going on, but we didn’t realise there would be quite so much. It is a bit of a bummer. I guess there is so much to see here that you can always find something that isn’t covered in scaffolding.”
Mr Pagano isn’t the only tourist to have highlighted the issue of tourists in Italy. Giancarlo Cielano, 80, told the Guardian about the growing number of visitors in Cinque Terre. They explained: “Older people like me, we’re used to having a sleep at around 4pm.
“But then, as more people came, we just couldn’t do it anymore. There were these constant voices and suitcases being rolled along the streets … we could no longer hear the sound of the sea.”
The concerns highlighted by tourists come as Europe faces a two-pronged problematic summer with searing 40C heatwaves and anti-tourism protests sweeping across the continent.
In Italy it is the former that has hit the country particularly hard, sending the mercury consistently close to and above 40C. The conditions have become so treacherous that the Foreign Office has changed its travel advice to highlight the risk of “highly dangerous and unpredictable” wildfires.
They added that visitors should “check the latest alerts and weather forecast and follow the advice of local authorities if you’re considering travelling to affected areas. Take care when visiting or driving through woodland areas and report fires to the emergency services”.