In my entire life I have never experienced such a hot summer. The swimming pool feels like a thermal spa. The water is so hot that I need a freezing cold shower after each swim. I avoid the sun and try to keep under the shade at all times.
Climate change is here to stay. It will only get worse and it is having a devastating effect on tourism. It is slowly starting to kill it.
The countryside surrounding the Eternal City is scorching hot with wildfires everywhere. There was one near my house the other day and we were almost ready to grab all our possessions and jump in the car – dog, cats and all.
Walking around in Rome it sometimes looks like a ghost town. It is almost peak season for tourism, and even though there are sweating foreigners roaming the streets with water bottles, sunblock, hats and sunglasses, they are fewer than in previous years. No one wants to slog around a city in this kind of heat, no matter how stunning the scenery.
By noon, Rome is empty. It looks like the Apocalypse. Italians hide inside their homes with the air conditioning on at full blast and the only reason to go out is for essentials, like food and medicine.
Rather than visiting the Colosseum, or lining up outside the glossy designer boutiques along the Via del Corso and Via Condotti, tourists are taking shelter inside bars, restaurants, museums and churches where they can find relief from the hellish heat.
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“Our kids are getting bored looking at yet another Renaissance painting or statue, or sitting for hours inside a cafe, but I almost fainted yesterday strolling along the Roman Forum,” said Anne, a writer from Chicago. Her younger child was screaming for another gelato.
I see the tourists walking about like zombies, lost in the Eternal City as if the heat had melted their brains. The bravest take turns splashing themselves with water from the ancient nasoni – these are the public fountains that dot the historic centre.
“I was planning to go to Sorrento next, but I’ve cancelled the trip – lost my hotel booking down payment and the train tickets. It would have been even hotter down south,” said Philippe, a Parisian who was travelling about on his own. As he spoke, he wiped the sweat off his forehead.
Talking to friends working in the tourism sector, they told me almost in tears that bookings for July and August, from America and Europe, are being cancelled due to the high temperatures. It’s the first time this has happened, they said. No clients have ever mentioned the heat before as a reason for cancelling.
As I drove along the Lungotevere ring road overlooking the Tiber, I spotted a few tourists in swimsuits trying to take a dip in the dark murky water, which is forbidden. Unfortunately the Tiber isn’t safe for swimming, but people are getting so desperate to escape this heat they’ll try anything.
Fewer tourists means the city has less traffic and chaos, which is great for many Romans – but at what cost? Tourism is a huge chunk of our GDP, and the temperatures are going up and up. I wonder what it will be like in five years. At this rate, the Dolce Vita will perish under the scorching sun.
Silvia Marchetti is a freelance reporter living in Rome
