Florence's mayor has come up with a novel way of dealing with annoying tourists

The steps of the Basilica of Santa Croce will be the first to get the water treatment. Photo / 123RF

The mayor of Florence is sick of tourists lounging around in public areas, so he's come up with a clever way of sending them packing.

Dario Nardella said the Renaissance city had a problem with tourists who didn't "respect decorum" and sat on the steps of grand churches and picnicked in the streets, leaving their rubbish behind.

So he's come up with a plan to keep them away: the good old garden hose.

Mr Nardella said from now on, the steps of the city's most popular churches would be hosed down with water, around lunchtime, so people wouldn't be able to sit down and eat their lunch there.

The steps of the Basilica of Santa Croce, where Michelangelo is buried, would be the first to get the water treatment, he told

The Guardian

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The steps of the Basilica of Santa Croce will be the first to get the water treatment. Photo / 123RF

"We have nothing against tourists. We know that they are a great resource for our city," he said.

"But there is a problem with respecting decorum. The majority of visitors are respectful and elegant. But there has been an increase among those who don't respect our cultural heritage, who sit down on church steps, eat their food and leave rubbish strewn on them."

He said streets in Florence's historic centre would also be hosed down to deter tourists from sitting and eating in streets and on stairs.

There were plenty of other places in Florence to have a picnic, he said.

"It's not that eating a sandwich while walking along the street is banned or that people can't sit down at other times," he said.

"We want to put people off from camping out. If they sit down, they'll get wet. Instead of imposing fines, we thought this measure was more elegant."

Last year, Mr Nardella famous rejected an application by fast food chain McDonalds to open a branch in Florence's historic Piazza del Duomo.

McDonalds then sued the city of Florence, saying "we cannot accept discriminatory regulations that damage the freedom of private initiative without being advantageous to anyone."