A French tourist was hit with a €450 fine this weekend after he fell foul of city laws aimed at curbing drunken behaviour.
Rome’s city police apprehended and fined the 35-year-old French man when they found him swimming in a historic fountain in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Despite the cold and wet weather over the weekend the man had decided to go for a dip in the historic Santa Maria fountain in Trastevere, believed to be Rome’s oldest.
City police showed up and took the swimmer to a nearby police station, where he was fined under city laws cracking down on drunken behaviour, which includes swimming in city fountains.
Rome’s city police are carrying out about a thousand checks and interventions a week as they crack down on street drinking and unruly behaviour in the city, mostly around Trastevere, Piazza Bologna, San Lorenzo, and in the historic centre. Read more