Tourists enthusiastically toss approximately three thousand euros into the Trevi Fountain in Rome every single day, desperately hoping the local legend will guarantee their return to the Eternal City.

A closer look

Tourists enthusiastically toss approximately three thousand euros into the Trevi Fountain in Rome every single day, desperately hoping the local legend will guarantee their return to the Eternal City. This adds up to well over a million euros annually, which city workers vacuum out of the water multiple times a week to donate to a Catholic charity that subsidizes supermarkets for the poor. So while you thought you were participating in a mystical ancient Roman tradition to ensure your future travel plans, you are actually just voluntarily paying a very wet, highly inefficient luxury tax to fund local groceries!