The standoff illustrates the challenges of day-to-day living in a city built on water.

Without any cars, shopping is largely done on foot, with residents lugging trolleys up and down the steps of stone bridges every few hundred yards.

Even finding a shop can be tricky – groceries, bakeries and other traditional outlets have been pushed out by tourist trinket shops selling glassware, Carnival masks and fridge magnets.

“Living in Venice brings with it many difficulties, including having to access on foot apartments on the fourth or fifth floors of palazzi,” said Massimiliano De Martin, a councilor in charge of planning issues.

Those inconveniences, plus the high cost of rent and the inexorable spread of Airbnb, has pushed many Venetians out of the city.

The population has dropped from around 175,000 in the 1950s to 55,000.