Venice, they water ski on the Grand Canal. The mayor: Two imbeciles

“Two bullying imbeciles”: that’s how Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro called two young men who filmed themselves water-skiing on the Grand Canal this morning in front of incredulous citizens and tourists who filmed them, posting clips on social media that quickly went viral.

“Here are two bullying imbeciles who are making a mockery of the city,” Brugnaro wrote on social, “I ask everyone to help us spot them so we can punish them even if our weapons are really blunt...we urgently need more powers for mayors on public safety! To those who spot them I’ll buy dinner!” The two perpetrators were later identified in the afternoon: the boards they used to surf the Grand Canal were seized, and charges are forthcoming for the two.

Performances of this kind are forbidden by the Regulations for Water Circulation in the Municipality of Venice: in fact, paragraph 7 of Article 3 states that "in all rios and canals it is forbidden to carry out the service of towing people equipped with water skis and to circulate with jet skis. This is not the first time such an incident has happened: back in 2016, a taxi driver had dragged a friend on top of a wakeboard, and the stunt had cost him the withdrawal of his license and a 150-euro fine. Before that, in 2008, there was a precedent ... vip: in early December, Dutchman Duncan Zuur, his country’s multiple water-skiing champion and third at the 2003 World Championships, waited for the high water to cross St. Mark’s Square aboard his wakeboard, giving tourists a naturally unauthorized show.

Venice, they water ski on the Grand Canal. The mayor: Two imbeciles

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