Uffizi, ticket price hike in peak season causes debate

The decision by the Uffizi Galleries Board of Directors to raise the price of individual admission to the Gallery of Statues and Paintings to cope withrising costs in the energy and construction sector iscausing discussion: from March 1, tickets in the high season will cost 25 euros instead of 20.

He applauds Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano, who said, "I think it’s right. We need to adjust to European standards. On average, the big European sites cost more, except for Britain where there is a special situation. “I think the increase also responds to a ’moral’ issue, so to speak,” the minister added. “For an American family that spends 10-20 thousand euros to come to Italy, paying this amount for a ticket is something that can be done.” Also of the same opinion is Tourism Minister Daniela Santanché:"Minister Sangiuliano is making a just and very important revolution. Twenty-five euros to see the Uffizi seems to me to be a fair price compared to the beauty inside, I don’t see anything wrong with that."

The 5-Star Movement group leader in the House Culture Committee Anna Laura Orrico takes a diametrically opposed view, commenting, "The increases in gasoline, energy and trolley prices were evidently not enough for this government. Now to increase is also the cost of museum tickets. Minister Sangiuliano justifies the price increases at the Uffizi and the possibility that other sites will follow suit by talking about rich tourists who can afford it.“ ”Obviously the problem is not about the Uffizi, but about the one-way vision of a government that acts by completely ignoring the most fragile Italian families and the middle class, which also has a right to culture,“ he continued. ”But above all, he forgets that in the last budget law his government allocated only 20 million and unpacked 18App to make cash on culture, instead of thinking about the investments the sector infinitely needs."

"This seems to me a very serious mistake," commented art historian Tommaso Montanari. "Culture is increasingly becoming an object of census against the draft Constitution. The state should intervene by allowing citizens not to burden them once again with the costs of the energy crisis."

Ivan Marinelli, president of theEuropean Association of Independent Consumers, also revolts: "They are raising museum prices a little bit for everyone. This is a punishment for Italians. Think of an average family that wants to go to the Uffizi, four of them pay 100 euros, unacceptable."

Uffizi, ticket price hike in peak season causes debate

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