Milan, in an effort to make more people visit it, did the one thing guaranteed to make people, well, not: It banned all street food, food trucks, and drinks in glass bottles in heavily visited parts of the city, including the area between Piazza XXIV Maggio, Gorizia Avenue, Via Codara, Cantore Square, and Gabriele D'Annunzio Avenue, the Independent reports. It also banned fireworks and firecrackers, which is no fun, and selfie sticks, which is hilarious.
Clearly, Milan is not out to appease the masses.
Officially, tourists and locals are prohibited from "holding, carrying, leaving on the ground, disposing of, or receiving any kind of glass bottles or containers, cans, and selfie sticks" to cut down on littering. But tacked onto that environmentally friendly measure is what Italian news outlet the Local calls a ban on "anti-social" behaviour. That might account for the selfie stick ban, as those by definition do not require a second party to function.
Other Italian cities have adopted strict tourism measures. Rome banned drinking alcohol at night and eating and drinking around its historical fountains. Florence hoses down church steps at lunchtime to scare away snacking tourists.
The Milan measure is in place now and will be up for review 13 August. Milan's counselor for security, Carmela Rozza, said it "will continue until it is needed." If tourists can't buy Italian street food while visiting the city's historical treasures and, of course, document every second of their time doing it, Milan might not need that measure for long.
