If you travel to Florence (Italy) you will quickly realize that it will cost you find a Florentine in the center. The hundreds and hundreds of tourists that visit the city on a daily basis have kept residents away from one of the most beautiful historical centers in the world. Well, actually, it’s not the tourists who have thrown them out, but the tourist apartments in which they stay. Currently there are 11,000, of which only 8,000 are between San Lorenzo and Palazzo Pitti, which is considered the heart of the Renaissance town.

The fact that in recent years this type of accommodation has not stopped growing and growing has made the price of long-term rentals skyrocket. They have gone up to 72%, and the average monthly price of a rental in the city center is about 2,000 euros. This is how Marco and Giulio, two Florentines who left their apartment near Santa Croce to move to the periphery, tell us: “The situation in the center is critical. We used to live in the center, but we can no longer afford to pay rent there” . The blame, they agree, lies with short-term tourist rentals.

The mayor says enough

They think the same way as the mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella. He says that it is impossible for a resident to be able to face a rent of this type and, therefore, he says that it is necessary to put a stop to them. It is an “urgent” need, he points out because, for him, “the housing problem in Italy has become a national emergency.”

The law that he is working on and that he intends to put into effect as soon as possible is not retroactive, but it will, of course, prevent more homes from being used to accommodate tourists during their vacations in the city. The 11,000 that are offered right now will be maintained but, from now on, those who join the list of tourist accommodation will have to impose a minimum stay of one month on their guests. The average that a tourist now spends in the city is three nights; the minimum of an Aribnb is two.

Florence is not the only one

Venice and Milan have the same problem as Florence. Its historic centers are so full of tourists and of holiday apartments that have ended up expelling the residents to other more remote neighborhoods or to the periphery.

Both the Venetian, Milanese and Florentine mayors agree that they do not want their cities to end up being turned into theme parks and, for this reason, the three councilors are working in parallel on legislation that limits this type of accommodation. Some of them have already taken the first steps…while Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni pushes through a nationwide law.