Tourists arriving on flights to Rome can expect to find all kinds of street performers entertaining crowds of passersby and soliciting donations. From mimes to musicians, many of these performers make their living on the generosity of tourists.

And while the performers may entertain visitors, locals and law enforcement officials are getting fed up. Roman officials are currently weighing a proposal that would better regulate miscellaneous activities on the streets of Rome.

One of the conditions would reportedly ban “living statues” on the basis that they demonstrate no artistic activity and serve only to create disruption.

Another provision would enforce a strict ban on street music at 10 PM. Currently, street musicians are permitted to perform until 11 PM. Violators of the proposed law risk having their instruments confiscated.

The measures will be debated by Rome’s municipal council in the coming weeks.

What do you think? Should “living statues” be banned because they don’t constitute “artistic merit?”  

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Source: AFP