Seven Piazza Navona cafés shut down in protest

After court upholds city ordinance against sidewalk tables

(ANSA) - Rome, Aug. 5 - Seven posh cafés on the Piazza Navona remained closed in protest Tuesday after a city ordinance eliminated their sidewalk tables. The renowned Tre Scalini ice cream parlour adjacent to the huge Bernini fountain in the centre of the square closed Monday after a local court confirmed a new ordinance restricting the number of tables on the square, meaning that Scalini's permission to seat customers outside was revoked together with that of the nearby bar Bernini. Other dolce-vita style watering holes that closed Tuesday included the I Quattro Fiumi and the Caffè Nettuno.

White-hatted police officers with pistols on their belts glared at café owners standing ready to confiscate tables if necessary, but terrified waiters scurried to store the furniture inside their establishments before lowering the shutters in evident mourning for more lucrative summers. In all only three bars remain open to satisfy the needs of the hordes of tourists strolling the baroque square.