Angry Venetians!

This has been going on quite a while now in Venice and last year we had the struggle for Venice to decide on course of action about cruise ships visiting this lovely place with an election of a pro cruise mayor.  Since this the situation has got worse.  Earlier this month 500 locals took to the streets in protests to raise awareness about the effects of mass tourism on the city and in August posters appeared around Venice saying for tourists to go away etc.  Well now hundreds of protesters took to the water to show their anger.  They carried flares onto small boats to try and stop ships from entering the lagoon.  Local to Venice are against the cruise ships especially in the peak season and in some ways I can see why.  it must be so annoying living somewhere where there are so many tourists however without these tourists then their trades would suffer.  The locals think it is destroying the character of Venice and causing damage to the city.  Cruise Lines have said they do very little damage to Venice.  I just feel that without all of these tourists their businesses will suffer and the worst time would be in the peak season.  It is a hard debate and you can see the view from both sides really.  If I was a local then yes I would probably feel annoyed but then as a tourist you want to try and see as many places as you can and the sailing into Venice is certainly a memorable experience.  I have been to Venice several times before and it really is a lovely experience .  I love Venice as a city and it will be interesting to see how they resolve this situation.