Column Chronicles: Strange laws throughout the world

Strange laws throughout the world

Frank Cotolo
May 16, 2019

Every civilized country, even Canada, passes laws books that are very weird. Most remain enforceable but ignored. Over the decades I have collected many of these laws and here are some from around the world.

Go to Rome, Italy and beware of carrying French pastry in your pockets for there is a stiff fee.

It is illegal in Istanbul, Turkey, to play with a rubber ball in a marketplace.

Lagos, Nigera, will jail tourists that ask local residents if they have ever met an actor who played Tarzan in a movie.

Wuhan, China prohibits anything attached to a kite while it is flying.

Acrobats are banned from hotels in Surat, India.

Under penalty of incarceration for no shorter than sixty days, tourists in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, must spend their first few hours visiting while smiling while holding hands with a chimpanzee.

It is illegal to buy comfortable shoes on Wednesdays in Yokohama, Japan.

Madrid, Spain, prohibits adults over the age of fifty to sing in any other language but Spanish while fishing.

No one can "skip to M'lou" in Piccadilly Circus, London, England, without a permit.

There are numerous fines for certain uses of a shovel in Sydney, Australia.

Berlin, Germany, will fine a Mime for wearing a turtle-neck sweater in public.

In Zurich, Switzerland, it is against the law to use socks as gloves outdoors no matter the temperature.

No city in Italy allows any public display of a tattoo in the shape of a cute bunny.

Frank Cotolo can be found hosting the talk and interview programme Cotolo Chronicles. You can send him an e-mail at this address: frank@148.ca.