‘Please don’t come to Venice’

A view of St. Mark’s square in Venice, Italy. Unesco put Venice on its heritage list in 1987 as an “extraordinary architectural masterpiece”, but the body has warned of the need for a “more sustainable tourism management”. — AFP

VENICE’s famed Rialto Bridge was jammed with tourists on July 31, the same day Unesco recommended the watery city be put on its endangered list citing overtourism and other concerns.

Taking selfies, licking gelato and wheeling suitcases, the hordes of visitors seemed happily oblivious to the possible downgrade that the UN cultural wing said was due to the risk of “irreversible” damage.