The center-right candidate on the access fee to the city: “Higher fees and for more days per year”. The candidate for mayor is 38 years old: “Venice is a city for young people”
By Francesco Furlan
March 3, 2026
“Receiving the nomination for mayor of my city at 38 is a great honor and a responsibility. It’s a sign that every young person in Venice can build their future here.” This was how Simone Venturini commented on the center-right’s official nomination on Monday, March 2nd. The presentation in Venice was on Friday, March 6th. This choice was no coincidence, as it is in the historic city that his coalition faces the most difficulties. Nor is it a coincidence that the first issues addressed by Simone Venturini – no longer a candidate in pectore but now official – and the center-right concern the management of tourist flows and the housing issue. These are issues Venturini knows well, having been responsible for both as a city councilor.
Tourism? “It will be addressed with even more advanced and bold tools, starting with the Access Contribution, which will also evolve through higher fees, a longer duration throughout the year, and complementary offera of services linked to the payment of the fee.” This approach is a nod to the proposals presented by Alessio Vianello with the “I Futuri di Venezia” project.
And what about housing? “Great attention will be paid to social cohesion and housing policies, with targeted interventions to combat depopulation and support those who choose to live and stay in Venice.” Co-housing, for example, and the idea of reaching an agreement with insurance groups for a policy that protects private individuals who currently refuse to rent empty homes for fear of defaults or damage to the property.
So, after the last few days were dedicated to negotiations, we’re starting to talk about issues. About programs, of course, but also about the government team. The starting point will be two councilors each for Fratelli di Italia (which will have a deputy mayor), Lista Venturini, and the Lega, and one for Forza Italia. The three remaining seats will be distributed based on the results obtained by the political parties and civic groups, in a battle that promises to be very tough and which the center-right, says Venturini, “wants to win in the first round”. Winning doesn’t mean reaching the top of the runoff, but rather obtaining an absolute majority of valid votes, thus immediately capturing Ca’ Farsetti.
An agreement was also reached on Monday at Villa Franchin for the candidates for the Municipalities, although the pairing between Municipality, candidate, and political party has not yet been finalized. The Lega would like to run Mestre and Favaro. The Venturini list would like Marghera and Chirignago. Fratelli di Italia would like Lido and Venice (which, however, it is losing). We’ll see. Yesterday morning, Raffaele Speranzon (FdI), Sergio Vallotto (Lega), Michele Zuin (FI), Paolo Bonafè (UDC), Cesare Busetto (Partito dei Veneti), and Simone Venturini himself (from the Civica Venturini Sindaco list) were at the negotiating table.
“A project born from a shared vision of the city and the awareness that Venice, in its uniqueness and fragility, requires leadership capable of combining administrative expertise, local roots, and openness to the future,” is the joint statement signed by Speranzon, Vallotto, Zuin, Bonafé, Busetto, and Venturini. But how much of Fuchsia – that is, Brugnaro – will be in this coalition? Venturini has found the Christian Democratic loophole between the words continuity and discontinuity, and speaks of “evolution, with a new interpreter”. It’s like walking a tightrope. Brugnaro didn’t take it too well when Venturini preferred to talk about discontinuity a few days ago.
Today, the center-right is claiming what has been achieved over the past 11 years. “Venturini’s candidacy, who if elected will become the youngest mayor in the history of the city of Venice,” say coalition representatives, “is part of an administrative journey characterized by eleven years of the Brugnaro administration, during which Venice saw, first and foremost, the recovery of a municipal budget that was in pre-bankruptcy conditions, followed by the reorganization of the administrative system, major investments in civil, sports, and road infrastructure, significant growth in cultural offerings and spaces, improved citizen services, and an acceleration in attracting private investment.”
And again: “Almost eleven years of government should be the platform from which to push for a profound evolution of the city. It is in this spirit that Simone Venturini’s candidacy is born: an administrator trained in the field, capable of interpreting this phase with the maturity of someone who knows the municipal system from the inside and the vision of someone who looks at the city with the eyes of someone who is still young.”
Source: La Nuova di Venezia e Mestre
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