Celebrities from the world of film, art and music have written an open letter to the Italian government calling for protection of Venice as tourists begin to return.

Sir Mick Jagger, Tilda Swinton and others pleaded with politicians to prevent the historic town from turning into “a theme park like Disneyland” by failing to regulate tourism after the pandemic.

“Venice shows its suffering and we, citizens of the world, cannot remain insensitive”, the letter reads.

“We ask you to preserve not only the immense artistic heritage but also the life of the city, which gives a soul to stones and paintings.

The 21 signatories, including directors Francis Ford Coppola and Wes Anderson, presented a list of 10 issues they say need to be addressed to protect The City of Bridges’ “physical and cultural identity”.

Venice, with its iconic canals and basilicas, has long attracted tourists from all over the world, but in recent decades the number of visitors and the arrival of cruise ships have started to weigh on the site.

The 21 signatories presented a list of 10 issues that they believe must be addressed to protect Venice’s “physical and cultural identity”

The city, with its iconic canals and basilicas, has long attracted tourists from all over the world, but in recent decades the number of visitors and the arrival of cruise ships have started to weigh on the site.

Rising sea levels and declining populations – to their lowest level since the 1950s – are also of concern.

Many Venetians rely on tourism for a living while acknowledging that the large number of visitors – some 25 million a year before the pandemic – has changed the character of the city and threatens to make it unliveable.

The stars are imploring Italian authorities to provide affordable accommodation for Venetians, to ban cruise ships from the lagoon and to pass much stricter regulations on the number of tourists.

They suggest a “management system based on the example of large museums like the Louvre, where groups can only enter if they have a reservation”.

The signatories also urged the government to complete the Moses flood barrier – a multibillion-euro project that has been running for 17 years so far – and crack down on apartments rented through Airbnb and d ‘other sites intended for tourists.

The letter was addressed to Prime Minister Mario Draghi as well as to the Italian Ministers of Tourism and Culture and to the Mayor of Venice.

Sir Mick Jagger (left), Tilda Swinton (right) and others have called on politicians to prevent the historic town from turning into “a theme park like Disneyland” by failing to regulate tourism after the pandemic. The stars are imploring Italian authorities to provide affordable accommodation for Venetians, to ban cruise ships from the lagoon and to pass much stricter regulations on the number of tourists.

Directors Francis Ford Coppola (pictured) and Wes Anderson are among the signatories of the letter which arrives as tourists begin to slowly return to the city [File photo]

It comes as tourists begin to slowly return to the city. Some hotels are already 70% full and the first of the season’s cruise ships is due to dock on Saturday.

The MSC Orchestra is to be greeted by Venetian demonstrators. In 2019, the same ship crashed into a dock and a river boat on the Giudecca Canal, reported the Corriere della Serra.

The Italian government indicated in March its willingness to ban liners in the Giudecca Canal, but the letter urges them to go further.

“Large cruise ships must be definitively banned not only in the San Marco basin and the Giudecca canal, but throughout the lagoon,” we read.

The letter was produced by the NGO Venetian Heritage, whose director Toto Bergamo Rossi defended the wealthy signatories of the letter against accusations of meddling in the city’s affairs.

“Venice is the only international city in Italy. Its heritage belongs to the world. The people who signed the letter are not just a collection of well-known names.

“They are really involved in the city and several are on the board of directors of our foundation,” he said. The telegraph.

“Like many Venetians, they want a better city than it was before the pandemic. It was total anarchy before. But we now have the possibility, before the return of mass tourism, to change things.

“Every year there are fewer and fewer of us and Venice is becoming more and more false. If we don’t act now, it will be like Disneyland – just a Third World version, without the Disneyland organization. ‘

The letter was produced by the NGO Venetian Heritage, whose director Toto Bergamo Rossi defended the wealthy signatories of the letter against accusations of meddling in the city’s affairs.

The Italian government indicated in March its willingness to ban liners in the Giudecca Canal, but the letter urges them to go further. “Large cruise ships must be permanently banned not only in the Saint Mark’s basin and the Giudecca canal, but throughout the lagoon”, we read.