Pisa leans on peddlers of 'vulgar' souvenirs

Officials in the historic Italian town of Pisa, home to the famous Leaning Tower, are cracking down on tacky souvenirs in a bid to clean up their image. Fines of up to 500 euro (£435) are being handed out to stall holders who sell underpants with the Tower resembling a penis or aprons that show Michelangelo's David in all his glory. Other clothing which also highlights famous erotic Roman art will also be banned from stalls as council chiefs vow to tackle the trashy keepsakes which are popular with tourists.



The stalls are a common sight around the famous 800 year old Leaning Tower of Pisa which is in the central Italian region of Tuscany and visited by more than a million people a year. The puritanical blitz has been ordered by the city's centre left mayor Marco Filippeschi who has asked mayors in other popular Tuscan tourist towns such as Siena, Florence and San Gimignano to do the same. Mayor Filippeschi said:"This material is offensive to public decorum and should be banned from souvenir stalls – people with young families should not have to see these shocking items.

"Some of the so called novelty souvenir items that can be found on these stalls are verging on the pornographic and this is not the image of the city of Pisa we want to cultivate. Laws already exist which allow city councils to impose restrictions on selling items which are regarded as inappropriate but for too long a blind eye was turned to these trashy souvenirs." But its not just Pisa council who is on the offensive – so is the Catholic Church which has a Cathedral just by the famous Tower on the square where the stalls are gathered.



Monsignor Enzo Lucchesini, of the Pisa diocese, stormed:"Those souvenirs are a disgrace, not just for the faithful who come to the cathedral but also for the locals. It shows a complete lack of respect – these sort of things are a sign of the decadence that exists in these times. We fully agree with what the council are doing and call for these offensive items to be removed." One disgruntled stall holder said: "It's just a bit of harmless fun. The tourists snap them up – there is a crisis on how do the council expect us to make a living."