In Venice, the action of a local resident causes discussions. Because an Italian was bothered by the smell of urine in front of his house, he rented out his toilet.
Venice – An Italian student living in Venice was literally "fed up". There are always tourists peeing on his doorstep. That's why the 20-year-old has taken a countermeasure and attached a note to his door on which he offers his toilet to passers-by for one euro. The action provoked divided reactions in Italy. Wild peeing in Italy can generally be expensive. Near the Italian town of Monterosso in Cinque Terre, two men were caught peeing in the sea and received a hefty penalty.
| Place | Venice, Italy |
| Action | Student rents out his own toilet to tourists |
| Background | Many passers-by pee in front of his house in the city center |
Student from Venice has had enough of peeing tourists on his doorstep – he offers his own toilet
"My roommate and I were tired of people peeing in front of our house," student Daniele Lucentini told La Nuova Venezia. The two of them share accommodation near the Sant'Angelo pier, which is located in the middle of Venice. Both would prefer it when people come into the house and use their toilet instead of peeing in front of it. That's why he put a post-it with the inscription "WC 1 Euro" on his front door.
In Venice, a student was fed up with tourists peeing on his doorstep. (Symbolic photo) © Felix Kästle/dpa
The student left the note hanging for a few days, during which time two tourists are said to have taken advantage of the offer. Subsequently, however, he removed it again. The reason was the heated discussions that his action had triggered in the social networks. There he was insinuated, among other things, of wanting to earn money with it.
"That was not my intention," the 20-year-old told the newspaper, stressing that it was only intended as a provocation against brazen tourists. "I didn't want to make money, I just wanted them to stop peeing in front of my house." In Germany, too, it became too much for a resident in Munich. During the Oktoberfest, so many people urinated in front of her house that she resorted to an unusual measure.
Italian rents toilet for tourists in Venice – network reacts divided to "wild pee measure"
Some Italian newspapers had published the student's action on Facebook and received hundreds of comments on the story – some in favour, some critical. "If there were more public toilets (even free), people might stop urinating on the streets," writes one user on the subject. She finds it problematic that money is earned with people's needs and sees it as the city's task to urgently create more publicly accessible toilets. Another user wrote: "There are the usual people who accuse others of wanting to make money from it, but they don't want to have urine on their house walls themselves. Or do you prefer the smell of urine?".
For wild peeing in Venice, locals and tourists face high fines. The Berliner Morgenpost reports, among other things, on a case in which two men were caught urinating near St. Mark's Basilica in Venice. Both had been fined 3,000 euros per person. In Germany, too, peeing in public or in the wilderness is prohibited and entails penalties.
