Feature: Tourist-starved Venice faces uncertain future amid coronavirus pandemic

VENICE, Italy, July 28 (Xinhua) -- A year ago, Venice was on the front line of Italy's growing battle against mass tourism. Now -- as Italy is recovering from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, including a dramatic drop-off in tourism -- locals are split over whether they want to return to the way they used to be.

Before the pandemic, Italy's famed canal city received about 4 million tourists per year, enough for the city to start charging a 10-euro (11.5-U.S.-dollar) tourist tax to raise cash to protect infrastructure and curb the number of day-trip arrivals. There were occasional clashes between the city's dwindling number of locals and the tourists that filled its alleyways and bridges.