Eating a Roman gelato on the Spanish Steps may be at the top of a list of things to do for many visitors to Rome, but it could land them with a €500 (£400) fine from today on.

Rome / NationalTurk – Rome tours Visitors who want to emulate Audrey Hepburn in the classic film Roman Holiday will be slapped with hefty fines under a new law adopted by Rome city’s council.

Under the law, tourists are prohibited from food munching on streets .. eating pizza, sandwiches, panini or any other Italian snacks or other fast-food around many of the monuments and architectural treasures that very much define Rome in the ‘centro storico’ or historic centre of the Eternal City.

Participants of Rome Tours : Beware of eating gelato in Rome yo can be fined !

Fines will range from 25 euros up to 500 euros, in what one Italian newspaper, La Repubblica, described as a war against the sandwich.

“It is forbidden to encamp or erect makeshift shelters and stop to eat or drink in zones which have a particular historic or architectural value,” reads the ordinance adopted by Rome city council.

The law is intended to “guarantee the protection of areas of merit in the historic centre.” Similar bans have been adopted in Venice, where eating snacks on the street is prohibited in St Mark’s Square, as well as other touristic Italien cities Florence and Bologna.

“This is a way to re-educate people, especially tourists visiting Rome in awe about how to behave in this city. We’ve let standards fall,” says Viviana Di Capua, from an association of Rome residents who live in the historic centre of this beautiful Italian capital.

“At the moment tourists can do anything they like in this city. We need to restore respect. It’s just a first step – a lot more needs to be done,” she states.

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