This is the incredible moment a group of tourists who were violently harassed by an angry local while they boarded a subway train in Rome broke into song, leaving the man stunned.
Shocking footage shows the irritated Italian on the metro shouting and kicking at a group of young Mexican tourists waiting on the platform.
Security guards can be seen talking to the furious man and plead with him to calm down, but he continues to argue, and tells them he is going to be late for work.
But the cohort of tourists, who appear to remain calm despite his abuse, have a brilliant response.
As the local yells and flails his arm around, the holidaymakers begin to play ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon – a song about peace and unity – through a portable speaker.
The tourists begin to wave their hands in the air, and by the time the song reaches the chorus, the entire tour group is belting the song.
One of the security guards who had been trying to defuse the situation even joins the singers and begins to wave his hands, while onlookers watch on in amazement.
But the local does not seem impressed, and begins kicking at the group from the carriage door.
The tourists from Mexico had travelled to the Italian capital for the 2025 Jubilee of Youth, an annual event for young Catholics organised by the Vatican.
The video, which was shared on social media, has racked up 3.2 million views on TikTok, with several viewers praising the young tourists’ reaction to the aggressive man.
‘These guys are great, GREAT LIFE LESSON!!!’, one user wrote.
‘That answer was magnificent’, another wrote.
But according to several users, the man’s frustration stemmed from the fact that Rome’s metro system has been experiencing numerous delays over the summer as a result of the Catholic event, which has drawn hundreds of thousands faithful from around the world.
‘Maybe the gentleman has exaggerated… but the situation in Rome has become UNSUSTAINABLE’, one user said.
Another commented: ‘The song talks about equality, but it seems to me that it refers to a comfortable equality, the one that suits them.
‘For them it is a holiday to be celebrated with smiles and kind words, while for those who get up every day at five in the morning it is just another day of hard work.
‘So, before singing it and laughing, they should put themselves in our shoes’.
The local man’s aggressive rant at tourists comes as tensions around overtourism in Europe continued to fester this summer.
Last year, 747 million international travelers visited the continent, far outnumbering any other region in the world, according to the U.N.’s World Tourism Barometer. Southern and Western Europe welcomed more than 70% of them.
As the growing tide of travelers strains housing, water and the most Instagrammable hotspots in the region, protests and measures to lessen the effects of overtourism have proliferated.
Countries on the Mediterranean are at the forefront.
Olympics-host France, the biggest international destination, last year received 100 million international visitors, while second-place Spain received almost 94 million — nearly double its own population.
Protests have erupted across Spain over the past two years.
In Barcelona, the water gun has become a symbol of the city’s anti-tourism movement after marching protests have spritzed unsuspecting tourists while carrying signs saying: ‘One more tourist, one less resident!’
The pressure on infrastructure has been particularly acute on Spain’s Canary and Balearic Islands, which have a combined population of less than five million people.
Each archipelago saw upwards of 15 million visitors last year.
Elsewhere in Europe, tourism overcrowding has vexed Italy’s most popular sites including Venice, Rome, Capri and Verona, where Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was set.
On the popular Amalfi Coast, ride-hailing app Uber offers private helicopter and boat rides in the summer to beat the crowds.
Greece, which saw nearly four times as many tourists as its own population last year, has struggled with the strain on water, housing and energy in the summer months, especially on popular islands such as Santorini, Mykonos and others.
