Italy | In Florence, mass tourism is slowly killing artisans

(Florence) Goldsmith in Florence, Tommaso Pestelli was ousted from his workshop to make way for a luxury hotel, yet another victim of mass tourism in the Tuscan city which, according to its defenders, risks losing its soul.

Calls for urgent action to protect the city center, a UNESCO site, intensified last month after shock declarations by the German director of the prestigious Galleria dell’Accademia that Florence had become “a prostitute” .

Some 1.5 million tourists visited this gem of art and architecture during the summer months alone last year, up 6.6% from the previous year, while a increasing number of shops and residential apartments are being converted into “fast food” restaurants and Airbnbs.

“We have been open since 1908. If you get rid of us, and many others like us, you take away part of the soul of the city,” storms Tommaso Pestelli, whose father, grandfather and great-grandfather were goldsmiths before him.

Mr. Pestelli, 55, managed to find another small workshop nearby, but many other artisans were not so lucky.

The average cost of residential rent jumped 42% between 2016 and 2023, while the number of apartments listed on Airbnb rose from around 6,000 to almost 15,000, according to official figures. Even in February, tourists line up in front of the cathedral and crowd around Michelangelo’s David.

With the expulsion of residents and the disappearance of traditional stores, “Florence is becoming an empty box,” warns Mr. Pestelli.

For Elena Bellini, 47, who sells works by local artists, the scarcity of residents is not only slowly killing neighborhood life. It leads to an increase in delinquency, particularly burglaries.

On the window of a jewelry store, we can read: “Florence is dying!” “.

Airbnb banned

The Tuscan capital is not alone in this case.

Venice and other popular destinations like the Cinque Terre in the country’s northwest have also seen their residents driven out by astronomical rents, invasion of tourist sites and souvenir shops.

While Venice is experimenting with a ticketing system, where day visitors will have to pay an entrance fee in high season, Florence’s center-left city council has launched a campaign to lure tourists away from the center.

People are increasingly looking for “experience-based routes”, and the municipality seeks to promote other points of historical and artistic interest, linked to the exploration of nature and gastronomy, explains to the ‘AFP Alessia Bettini, deputy mayor.

The number of visitors to surrounding villages, castles and abbeys increased by 4.5% in January, while the number of hikers venturing on the Path of the Gods, which crosses the Apennines to Bologna, increased by 22% last year.

The city council also tried to free up housing for local people and prevent a further surge in rents by banning new short-term private vacation rentals in the historic center. The measure, passed in October, also provides tax breaks for landlords who revert to regular leases.

“A world disappears”

Despite the ban, around ten artisans are in the process of being evicted from their workshops located in a building near Ponte Vecchio, as part of a tourist development project.

“The Florentine tradition of goldsmithing is collapsing quite quickly,” laments Tommaso Pestelli.

A few blocks away, Gabriele Maselli, president of the Florence Historic Business Association, hand-painted a gilded frame, rows of brightly colored pots and powders lining the shelves behind him.

A large crucifix hangs on a wall, while nearby, a restorer works to restore its luster to a damaged painting.

“People come to Florence for quality products, handmade with great care,” explains Gabriele Maselli, 58. “If a company is forced to close, the entire production chain is affected. It’s a whole world that closes, that disappears forever.”