The funds would go to refinance the Special Law for Venice, before the launch of the national budget law. In 2025, €28 million was received after lengthy negotiations. Councilor Zuin: “This is a good sign, we need that money”.
November 28, 2025
As happened in 2024, the majority and opposition of the Venice City Council united today and once again unanimously requested (with a cross-party motion) the refinancing of the Special Law for Venice, but with updated figures.
This law is intended to help protect the unique nature of the Venetian lagoon, but it has been without formal structural funding since 2025. After lengthy negotiations, a total of €28 million was received in March 2025 for the current year, but the next year’s funding remained unclear. The motion approved today, which follows and updates the one unanimously approved by the city council and regional council last year, instead calls for 170 million a year for ten years (a sort of ISTAT adjustment of the figure of 150 million requested in 2024).
Sewers, houses, bridges, banks, restorations: where would all that money go?
The motion requests resources (€170 million a year for 10 years) “to be allocated directly to the budgets of the City of Venice and other surrounding municipalities, to be used, for example, for residential support, the completion of the city’s fire prevention network, the sanitation and hygiene remediation of the islands of Burano and Pellestrina, and the completion of the integrated canal project (including extraordinary excavation of internal canals). Money would also go towards the restoration of the hydraulic, structural, and sanitation functions of the canals, their banks, and related bridges, paving and bank resurfacing, and sewer upgrades. Other uses would include regulatory compliance and extraordinary maintenance of museums, the redevelopment and restoration of public buildings, and finally, grants for special restoration and maintenance projects, offered through a call for tenders to private individuals, and subject to the owner’s continued residence and not operating tourist rentals.”
The municipal administration, with the support of the opposition, has consistently requested refinancing for amounts much higher than those allocated, which have become even more insufficient given the rising prices recorded from 2022 onward. But the national government has not yet been persuaded. “If this money were to be available, we could do much more. It’s a good sign that all of you elected officials in the area are voting unanimously for this motion”, budget councilor Michele Zuin commented in the chamber.
Source: Venezia Today
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