VENICE, Italy — A dozen gondolas snaked down the Grand Canal on Saturday in a mock funeral procession bemoaning Venice’s approach to the dreaded status of living museum, with a population now below 60,000.
Although the symbolic threshold is considered by some to signal the end of the city’s viability, officials say reports of Venice’s demise are premature.
In fact, while native Venetians have been fleeing the expensive lagoon city for cheaper and easier living on the mainland, the population of the historic center was officially 60,025 as of Thursday, up from the 59,992 it had fallen to in recent weeks.
But Venice must still resist becoming merely a tourist destination, said Mara Rumiz, the city official in charge of demographics.
“It is evident that Venice has to safeguard its residents and attract new inhabitants,” she said. “If not, we risk that Venice becomes only a tourist mecca.”
