The damage by the tidal surge this month and the failure to address the causes and consequences of the disaster has fuelled determination of residents to vote Yes in the referednum. Paolo Stefani a local baker said: “Would a mayor focusing on only Venice have allowed our planned flood barrier, the most important thing for this town, to be delayed for so long? We had 15 motors that powered ovens and mixers out of action, €70,000 (£59,000) worth of damage and a city without bread for two days.
Mr Stefani, 78, runs the Emilio Colussi bakery, tucked down a narrow street near St Mark’s Square.
The owner of Venice’s biggest bakery knelt and pointed to the grimy watermark left on one of his massive ovens by the devastating flood.
He added: “Huge hotels are going up in Mestre boosting visitor numbers to Venice, but since the mayor represents Mestre too, he represents the very people putting us under siege.
“An autonomous Venice could seek special powers to limit access to the hordes who cross the causeway linking Venice to Mestre.”
Venice will vote on an independence referendum (Image: GETTY)
Venice (Image: GETTY)
Campaigners claim that only by finishing the stalled Mose barrier, banning cruise ships that rattle the city’s foundations and stemming a tide of 20 million annual tourists that drive up rents and push out residents, can Venice be saved.
Head of the activist group 25 Aprile Marco Gasparinetti said: “The flood made us realise how alone we are, and how decisions on Mose are being made by a mayor who lives on dry land with a swimming pool.
The theatre director Marco Balich, a Yes voter, said: “We have a mayor who is not saying no to the cruise ships, and the city is becoming a horrible shopping mall.”
Tourists have delighted in splashing through the tidal surges that peaked at 187cm above normal on November 12, the highest since the 194cm recorded in 1966.
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St Mark’s Venice (Image: GETTY)
The surges have continued since, leading to four tides over 140cm in November, compared with a previous high of two in a year.
Venetian rubbish collectors have removed 220 tonnes of soaked mattresses, appliances and furniture from homes.
On the lagoon island of Pellestrina, which took the brunt of the floods, 840 fridges were thrown out by its 2,800 residents.
There has been an increase in calls for Venetian independence in recent years and Venetian nationalism is having a resurgence.
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Venice (Image: GETTY)
Venetian nationalism promotes the rediscovery of the Republic of Venice’s heritage, traditions, culture, and language.
It also demands for more autonomy or even independence from Italy for Veneto.
Veneto is the ancient Roman name for the region.
According to journalist Paolo Possamai, Venetism is “the strain of Veneto and Venetians toward the recognition of their identity and autonomy”.
Venetism is a broad movement, which definitely includes Venetist parties, notably Liga Veneta, but also encompasses people from all the political parties.
In 1982 Goffredo Parise, a writer and journalist, wrote: “Veneto is my fatherland.
“Even if a Republic of Italy exists, this abstract idea is not my Fatherland.
“We Venetians have travelled throughout the world, but our Fatherland, that for which we would fight if it were necessary to fight, is Veneto.
Venice (Image: GETTY)
“When I see “River sacred to the Fatherland” written on the bridges spanning the Piave, I am moved, not because I think of Italy, but rather because I think of Veneto.”
Venetia was united with Italy in 1866.