Verona, Juliet and the "lovers' tax"

2025-12-09 20:51:00, Kulturë CNA

Five centuries ago, when the Englishman William Shakespeare transformed the tale of Luigi da Porto, a native of Vicenza, into a universal masterpiece, Romeo and Juliet became a legend. Between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, thanks to the invention of the Grand Tour and the stories of Hans Christian Andersen and Charles Dickens, they became a dream. Today, overwhelmed by selfies and mass tourism, they have degenerated into a nightmare.

The “epicenter of the earthquake”, existential before poetic, has an address: Via Cappello 23, Verona. For 120 years, the city council, in order to offer a destination for travelers looking for a photogenic source of love, has decided to place Juliet's House. It is all fake, or imaginary, as every masquerade claims: it is a pity that no one predicted that a fake balcony, although built with original medieval objects, would become a catastrophic hotbed of excess, a symbol of the plague that threatens to destroy even the stubborn beauty of Italy. The last tremor, on the long weekend of the Immaculate Conception.

Thousands of people, from every continent and after paralyzing traffic, eagerly attacked Verona's most popular destination, the fourth most appreciated in the country. Under the tree, a surprise: from Saturday to January 6, where the rule of tourist photography requires touching the bronze chest of a replica of the 20th-century statue of Juliet, it is no longer free.

This personal achievement, after nearly three hours in a traffic jam between the toll booth and the sign guaranteeing "Juliet's House," costs 12 euros and is no longer even free. The holders of limited-entry day tickets, who enjoy the view from the balcony and a visit to the "museum," number 1,460. The maximum number of people in the rooms at any one time has been reduced from 60 to 45, with 15-minute shifts: a 60-second limit for a couple's selfie, embracing over the courtyard. The result of the "lovers' tax": an impassable human wall in front of the security-guarded entrance, an angry crowd, an inaccessible historic center between the arena and Piazza Erbe, agitated vendors, desperate traffic policemen and tour guides prone to foul language.

The protest is such that even the advisor for Major Events, Stefania Zivelonghi, has resorted to Shakespearean language: "We are ready," she announced, "to hold a meeting to assess the necessary corrections." Her Culture Colleague, Marta Ugolini, translates: "Something is blocked," she says, "we will see how to unblock it. Access to the courtyard has been limited to the museum ticket because the available outdoor space has been reduced. The alternative, for reasons of public safety, was to close everything."