American food giant McDonald’s is suing the city of Florence for turning down the company’s application for a new restaurant in the Piazza del Duomo at the city’s center for €18 million ($19.7 million).
The company had applied to open a new restaurant in the city’s most famous square and one of the most visited tourist sites in Europe. After Florence’s rejection of the application in order to preserve the city’s rich cultural atmosphere, McDonald’s announced legal action seeking compensation for loss of future earnings after having altered their proposal in an attempt to fit in with the city’s guidelines. The restaurant chain are claiming discrimination, reports the BBC.
“We completely agree that the cultural and artistic heritage and the Italian historical town centers have to be protected and guaranteed, as well as the traditions and the historical small shops, but we cannot accept discriminatory regulations that damage the freedom of private initiative without being advantageous to anyone,” the fast-food chain stated,
Home to the famous Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence’s 800-year-old cathedral, and widely recognized as the birthplace of the Renaissance period, the city was named in 1982 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its cultural and historic significance. Prestige brought by this status raises awareness among citizens and governing bodies to preserve the unique heritage of the city, and conserve its cultural richness.
The city mayor, Dario Nardello, said in a statement that “McDonald’s has the right to submit an application, because this is permitted under the law, but we also have the right to say no.”
“We don’t have any prejudice” against McDonald’s, Nardello added, noting that the company already has restaurants elsewhere within the city.
The decision to prevent the restaurant from opening so close to this historic location is significant in a climate of tourist-friendly venues and restaurants compromising what some see as the aesthetic value of other poignant locations around the world. For example, the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt can be photographed from a branch of American restaurant chain, Pizza Hut.