Foreign Affairs
Historic Italian City Bans ‘Ethnic’ Food To Protect Culture
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The Italian city of Verona has put a ban on ethnic restaurants to protect its “typical culture.”
Verona has seen an explosion of kebab restaurants popping up in the city’s historic center. The aggressive development led officials to adopt a new ruling this week in which any new restaurants intending to sell certain “ethnic” food won’t be granted a license to operate.
“Thanks to this provision there will be no more openings of establishments that sell food prepared in a way that could impact the decorum of our city,” Verona Mayor Flavio Tosi said, according to The Telegraph. “This protects not only our historic and architectural patrimony of the city centre but also the tradition of typical culture of the Verona territory.”
Verona was founded more than 2,000 years ago and has maintained several historic sites, including an amphitheater that’s on the UNESCO World Heritage List . It is also the set of three William Shakespeare plays, including Romeo of Juliet.
The city of Venice is considering similar measures because of the “Disneyfication” of certain areas. Like Verona, Venice is concerned tourists will turn to other destinations if Italian cultural values and traditions can’t be preserved.
“Some of this gimcrackery, especially when we don’t know even know where its made, is difficult to reconcile with the city,” said Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro told The Telegraph. “These are things that have nothing to do with our history and frankly create discomfort.”
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