To anyone who has ever looked at a bit of crumbling Venice and said, or even thought, “They really ought to fix that,” this is your moment.  But if you were to have considered coming here now to see Venice, let me warn you that you’ll be seeing square miles of scaffolding and tarpaulin.

I was fascinated by all this happening so suddenly (or at all), and believe me, at a certain point I stopped taking pictures because there’s no need to publish literally a thousand photos of scaffolding and tarpaulin.  But why is it happening now?  Like so many questions, the answer is lying at, or not far from, some point involving money because, apart from the cost of the work, there is a phenomenal daily cost merely for the scaffolding.  As I understand it, the cost is imposed because the metal towers are occupying public space (think cafe tables inching out into the street), and said occupation comes at a price.  Perhaps this is true in the whole world, but because we’re here, I risk invoking my one-size-fits-all explanation: ThisisVenicewheremoneyisking.

For confirmation, I went to Lino, as I always do, and he answered my question with two words: “Bonus casa.”  (As I said: Money.)  Here is how it works and why everything is happening now, translated by me from a well-informed website.  “Extension till December 31, 2021 also for the deduction from personal income tax (Irpef) of 50 percent of the expenses sustained for interventions of building recovery, also known as ‘bonus casa’ or ‘bonus renovation.’  With a maximum limit of 96,000 euros for each unit of real estate.”   Fun fact: There is an assortment of additional bonuses for a variety of housing improvements from improving energy efficiency to windows to installation of solar panels to street-facing facades to adding or maintaining “green areas.”  There is much more, but you get the idea.

So I’m absolutely correct in supposing that everybody woke up with a start one morning yelling “OMG I’ve got to get started on redoing the entire building today!”

I’m not saying you should bring a hard hat to wear over your woolen watch cap.  Just saying that work is booming.  Nice, when you think about it.  Only slightly less nice when they’re drilling, hammering, sawing, scraping, sanding and yelling next to your bedroom window.  And the dust, of course.  Now I know why I haven’t dusted the house since spring; I must have sensed that this was coming up.  Life is still so far from perfection….