Locals in Italy slam new rules for UK tourists and say 'we're against it'

UK tourists in Italy face a new tourist tax to enter Venice - but locals say they are against it. Venice has introduced a new £4 daily fee for daytrippers amid a clampdown and crackdown on tourists as the spring and summer season continues.

The charge came into effect today - but has been slammed by some locals. Matteo Secchi, who leads residents activist group Venessia.com, told The Guardian: “I can tell you that almost the entire city is against it. You can’t impose an entrance fee to a city.

"All they’re doing is transforming it into a theme park. This is a bad image for Venice … I mean, are we joking?” Federica Toninello, who leads an association for housing, said that the tax was not enough to deter people and that it is not addressing the real issue anyway.

READ MORE Venice issues strict new rules for UK tourists and locals say 'you're joking'

"But day trippers aren’t the issue; things like the shortage of affordable housing are … What we need are policies to help residents, for example, making rules to limit things like Airbnb," he told the Guardian. Italy has a variety of tourist taxes in place, based on which city you're in and what kind of accommodation you're staying in. Rome's fee ranges from €3 to €7 per night, with some smaller cities charging more.

Anyone visiting that city and staying overnight in a hotel or home rental. Even Italians need to pay the city tax if they are not residents. People exempt include residents and children up to 10 or 14 years as well as disabled guests and caretakers of disabled guests.

Not paying the tourist tax in Italy can lead to fines and penalties, and the establishment where you are staying may pass these fines onto you. It is warned: "Deliberate avoidance or a larger pattern of evasion could have more serious consequences."