FOUR SPANISH tourists took a plunge in the Italian city of Venice this week after a wave caused by a large motorboat capsized their gondola, Italy’s ANSA news agency said.
The holidaymakers were quickly rescued by other gondoliers who glided to their rescue but the incident has reignited the debate over difficulties that the gondolas face on the waters in and around the picturesque Italian city.
The flat-bottomed tourist boats that ply the canals and venture out into the lagoon are a must-do in Venice, but they are vulnerable to the sudden wash from passing motorboats. “The problem remains the movement of the swell caused by motorboats,” the head of a gondoliers association Aldo Reato said, adding that he has been complaining about the problem for two years.
“There are solutions,” he insisted. Reato explained that most of the incidents happen near the jetties where gondola passengers board, and that extending the boarding decks further out into the water could help protect the gondolas from any turbulence.