Israeli tourist in Venice is arrested for kidnapping after demanding his money back from currency exchange worker who gave him a poor deal on his £100 and ‘holding her hostage for half an hour’
- Israeli tourist in Venice arrested for holding a currency exchange worker hostage
- The 46-year-old was exchanging dollars for euros but was unhappy with the rate
- The angry man allegedly locked female worker in building for over half an hour
- The incident is just the latest in a string of run-ins between tourists and locals
An Isreali tourist in Venice has been arrested after he allegedly held a local currency exchange worker hostage over a money dispute.
The 46-year-old had visited a currency exchange in the iconic Italian city to exchange $100 into euros.
But the man was reportedly left dissatisfied at the exchange rate when he was handed over the euros and asked to reverse the transaction.
He then allegedly proceeded to lock himself inside the exchange office along with the female worker in protest.
An Isreali tourist in Venice has been arrested after he allegedly held a local currency exchange worker hostage over a money dispute, in the latest run-in between tourists and locals int he overcrowded city
Police say the man pulled down the shutters of the office and stopped the woman from getting out of her booth for a period of over half an hour.
The woman was ‘dismayed and frightened’ and immediately alerted police to the situation.
The Carabinieri arrested the tourist for kidnapping and he did not receive a refund.
The incident is just the latest in a string of episodes of run-ins between tourists and Venice locals in the crowded city.
Last month, two Czech tourists were fined €3,000 (about $3,320) each for skinny dipping near the Piazza San Marco.
Visitor-only routes to popular landmarks were introduced to keep tourists away from the locals. The visitor-only routes were put in place for tourists heading to St Mark’s Square and the Rialto Bridge (pictured)
Every year, Venice is flooded by an unprecedented amount of nearly 30million visitors. This is more or less half of the Italian population, according to the Global Tourism Review.
Meanwhile, Venice’s population has shrunk from 175,000 to just 55,000 in 60 years.
According to local media, if things keep going at the current rate, the city won’t have a single resident by 2030.
And its natives haven’t been taking this lightly.
In September 2016, hundreds of Venetians carrying flares targeted cruise ships in a huge demonstration against the huge number of tourists they bring each day.
Two months later, hundreds more protesters took to the streets carrying suitcases to symbolize their steady exodus from their beloved city.
Source: Read Full Article