I count myself lucky to have visited Venice for the first time nearly half a century ago. In that distant halcyon era of European travel, Venice was gloriously free of massive cruise ships and mobs of day-tripping bus groups. It was possible to wander back streets without seeing another tourist and to discover tiny local shops and restaurants frequented by actual Venitians. On each of my subsequent vists to La Serenissima the city felt more and more claustrophobic and Disneyfied.

It finally appears that over-tourism is being recognised as an urgent issue for the grand city. In September, Venice approved the trial of a €5 (£4.30; $5.35) fee for daily visitors. Elisabetta Pesce, the official with responsibility for the city’s security, said the latest policies are “aimed at improving the management of groups organised in the historic centre”. The city is just 7.6 sq km (2.7 sq miles) in size but it hosted almost 13 million tourists in 2019, according to the Italian national statistics institute. On busy days, more than 120,000 tourists descend on the city of just 50,000 residents. Due to cruise ships, bus groups, budget airlines, and day-trippers, the numbers of visitors are expected to reach and exceed pre-pandemic levels by 2025.

Venice is now banning groups larger than 25 and the use of loudspeakers in public, with the new rules coming into effect in June. Local activists are also pushing for controls on AirBNB-type rentals, as well as more stringent regulation of day-tripping tour groups. I for one say bravo.