Rome's horse-drawn carriages move to city parks

Rome will not grant any new botticelle licences.

Rome's horse-drawn carriages, or botticelle, are to be moved off the streets to four of the capital's parks following legislation approved by the city's environmental committee on 25 September.
The approval is the second-last hurdle required to move botticelle away from Rome's streets definitively, as promised by the city's mayor Virginia Raggi in her election campaign more than two years ago.
The final obstacle needed is the approval of the city's mobility committee, expected "within the first few days of October" according to Italian news agency ANSA.
In addition Rome has ruled not to grant any new licences for the botticelle, whose 32 current drivers have been given the option to switch to a taxi license. This means that if all the existing drivers move to taxis then the carriages would effectively disappear.
The city says the measure is to avoid suffering to the horses but the drivers have argued that the steep roads required to reach Villa Pamphilj or Villa Borghese are "very dangerous" for the animals.
Over the years there have been numerous clashes between carriage drivers and animal rights' activists who describe the city's streets as a "cruel" working environment for the horses, several of whom have collapsed and died under the strain of the summer heat.