The G20 are coming for dinner. And breakfast, and fancy fetes, and big meetings from July 7-11, and for days we’ve been given periodic updates on what this will entail for daily life.
For those who may not feel like knowing more than necessary, here are the basics (thank you, Wikipedia): The G20 is composed of most of the world’s largest economies, including both industrialized and developing nations. The group collectively accounts for around 90 percent of gross world product (GWP),[4] 75-80 percent of international trade,[A 1] two-thirds of the world’s population,[2] and roughly half the world’s land area.
Think: Economic Ministers and governors of central banks. Also think: Organized demonstrations protesting the many defects of the global economy, with protestors coming from far and also wide, at least some of whom are known to prefer violence. Each group will be assigned a specific area from which to express their views. They won’t be near the Arsenal, I think I can promise that.
This year it was Italy’s turn to play host, and considering that by the late 13th century Venice was the richest country in Europe, it seems pleasantly appropriate for the money masters to meet here. I doubt that was the organizers’ motivation, but it does fit. Although the decision was made in Rome, and not here, Venice may well have been seen as a city uniquely adapted to the control of movement by land or by water.
The city began planning all this last January (probably much earlier, actually), by means of at least ten separate committees. The basic idea was to keep the city in as normal a condition as possible with the help of 1500 extra police (Carabinieri, Guardia di Finanza, Polizia di Stato, etc.), including police divers ready for canal duty. The prefect made a big point of saying he could have just shut the city completely down, but wanted to show it as open and even welcoming. I hope that turns out to be true.
Some statistics: The eleven canals nearest the Arsenal were emptied of the boats that normally are moored there. These 450 vessels were temporarily transferred to the marinas at the Certosa island (“Vento di Venezia”) and Sant’ Elena Marina. I believe there is no cost for this to the owners, but there will certainly be some inconvenience in going to either place to get your boat.
The 62 delegations (size of each unknown) will be lodging in eight luxury hotels in the city. The extra police that have been brought in as reinforcements will be bunking on the mainland, if that interests you.
Covid swabs every 48 hours are guaranteed to everyone at the meeting, at points in the Arsenal and in the delegation hotels. Ambulances are on standby.
The yellow area is the “Security Zone,” accessible only to residents and shopowners who show their pass. At “D” you find the taxi station between San Zaccaria and the Arsenal is suspended, and at E and F the fuel station and boatyard by the church of San Pietro di Castello are suspended, seeing that they are within a few feet of the second water entrance to the Arsenal. No yachts will be permitted to tie up along the Riva degli Schiavoni.
The vaporetto stops closest to the meeting site (Arsenale, Bacini and Celestia) will be suspended. The Fondamente Nove are partially unavailable to traffic; one helpful notice explained to residents of the Lido that if they needed to go to the hospital, they would have to go to Murano, then proceed to the hospital by way of the Fondamente Nove stop.
Baffled by how this would work, I studied the vaporetto options and discovered Line #18 that runs from the Lido to the Murano stops, where you change for the 4.1. As if normal life here weren’t already sufficiently inconvenient, this line operates once an hour from 9:18 AM to 7:50 PM, with a break between 12:18-4:50 PM. I don’t know that I’d undertake the voyage except in case of direst need.
Navigation will be controlled according to this color-coded scheme, and that means everybody, up to and including you and your aging uncle who wants to take the motorboat out to go fishing.
Transport of merchandise will be forbidden between 8:00-10:00 AM and 4:00-6:00 PM. (See the red-orange zone on the map.) Restaurant owners have been advised to stock up early, in case there are any glitches.
Don’t imagine that you can somehow manage to cleverly do things your own way; there will be some 60 boats of the Guardia di Finanza out patrolling, as well as four helicopters. I appreciate the prefect’s assurances that normal life will continue, but I’m starting to wonder how many people are just going to decide to take a long weekend and go to the mountains.
15 Comments
Hope your G20 doesn’t turn out like Toronto’s. Riots, highly militarized police force, mass arrests. A dig race all around. A search will bring up everything you need to see.
Mi manca Venezia e Erla, come o senza la stracciatella. Forse posso venire come G-21? Ma solo se riesco ormeggiare il mio yacht al’Arsenale. Con un abbraccio.
Adesso tutti gli ormeggi sono liberi. Vieni pure!!
Oh, good lord; couldn’t they just use zoom like the rest of the first world? I hope you and yours and all the city’s residents remain safe and healthy.
All went well, as far as I know (admittedly I read only the headlines….). The Saturday assault on the Accademia Bridge was met with plenty of police, and it seems no one was seriously injured. What more can one ask, in this day and age?
Thank you for another informative and witty post. Hasn’t your beautiful city suffered enough without being visited by this absurdity?
Meh, it is turning out less worster than the original forecasts (maybe?), but still a solid stick up the back end of anyone that falls under the shadow (not to be confused with an “ombra”) of the events that have no reason to be here, and which, all things considered, have no reason to exist at this moment in Venice. Such are the problems of dealing with a mayor that was elected by a “municipal” (overwhelmingly mainland) majority (including wealthy absentee owners of property now living sporadically more or less elsewhere whenever and wherever they can) and is looking at gaining national approval for a new political party. As they said, when I was growing up around Chicago (and which is still popular there), “never let a good crisis go to waste”.
If it must happen, I hope the visitors drop a lot of money throughout the city.
I have every reason to think they did; after all, 62 delegations need plenty of care and feeding.
Good heavens, wouldn’t a few dozen cruise-liners be less hassle?-And probably more profitable to the general residents? Hope you all survive the experience relatively unscathed.
I heard several people here express the same opinion about cruise liners for this event. As for profit, though, I imagine that housing and feeding 62 delegations gave the economy here a healthy boost. As for the rest of us, life continued undisturbed, as long as we followed the rules.
Erlamou,
I remember being in the Campo Arsenale when all the chaps
from the Mediterranean navies were gathered…an abundance of
admirals, and marines (whatever they’re called in Italy) and
every flavor of police, all jostling to get over that little bridge.
But no gates or no-go zones. This is just what you and your fellow
citadini needed.
The soccer celebration must have been extra fn after this lock down!
Thanks! Our part of the city didn’t go batshit crazy like in some other parts of town, not to mention in other cities where people were watching jumbotrons outside in the piazzas, but yes, I yelled my little heart out. There were about 50 people at the outdoor trattoria with the big-screen TV where we had dinner and everybody was pretty much out of their minds. It was great (duh).
Venice is such a beautiful city and I hope we can enjoy its wonder for many years to come. Its future is entwined with the decisions the G20 make regarding climate change and let’s hope we can move in the right direction and protect Venice’s legacy.