Milan, 26 May (LaPresse) – ‘My result has exceeded expectations, even though I was certain of winning in the first round. Now stop saying I’m Brugnaro’s heir apparent: in the lagoon, the only dolphin around is the one swimming in the sea.’ Simone Venturini, elected mayor of Venice in the first round, said this in an interview with La Repubblica. ‘I remain just an ordinary lad from Marghera who knows every corner of the city: I countered the centre-left’s smear campaign with the facts of my commitment as a councillor,’ he said. ‘That’s why I’ve always been calm, even when the polls had me losing: on Sunday I went for a swim at the Lido, then I went to sleep.’ ‘Promising to scrap the entry fee and then deciding what to do, as Martella did, did not reassure those fighting overtourism,’ he emphasises. ‘It backfired: I will start afresh with my ticket.’