Selfish selfie-takers spark Trevi fountain brawl

The quest of two tourists for a perfect selfie has sparked a brawl at Rome’s famous Trevi fountain.

Fighting broke out after a 19-year-old woman from Holland and a 44-year-old Italian-American woman wanted to take their selfies at a prime spot in front of the monument at the same time.

The incident happened on Wednesday evening, a time of day when the light makes the monument a perfect backdrop.

What started as an exchange of words between the women became a physical fight and then their respective family members joined in.

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Neither of the women wanted to give way over the selfie spot, the newspaper La Repubblica reported. Eight people ended up involved in the fight as startled onlookers watched.

Two police officers managed to quell the fight, but the truce lasted only a few minutes, and two more officers had to be called in to finally end it.

The tourists only sustained bruises but were charged for violence.

The Trevi fountain, designed by the architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Giuseppe Pannini in 1762, attracts thousands of visitors each year.

Patrols at the site were increased after a €1.6m facelift in 2015.

Rome last year pledged to crack down on bad behaviour involving the city’s fountains, imposing fines of up to €240 for people caught snacking or camping on the fountains’ pedestals, dipping their feet in the water or going for a swim.

Residents get particularly irked by tourists who try to recreate the scene from Federico Fellini’s film La Dolce Vita, in which the late Swedish actress Anita Ekberg wades into the fountain. – Guardian