The Italian Alpine village of Funes, located close to the Austrian border in South Tyrol, has gained international attention since a post of the picture-perfect town went viral on social media.

In order to limit the impact of its rising tourist numbers on locals, barriers will be installed during the summer peak season, allowing only residents to access some of the most popular spots by car.

While the situation has gotten worse over the years, Funes’ success isn’t exactly new. Allegedly, the town’s popularity amongst Chinese tourists in particular would be due to a phone operator who, in 2005, put a picture of the photogenic Santa Maddalena church of Funes and its mountainous background on its sim cards. Some even believe that the town was the main inspiration behind the famous mountain emoji that can be found on smartphones.

Whether or not that is true, we will probably never discover, but over the past few years, Funes has attracted thousands of day-trippers looking to take the perfect picture. Ever since then, tension between locals and tourists has been growing.

In order to address those problems and to reinstall peace at Funes, barriers had already been installed on the road leading to the village some three years ago. However, those roadblocks weren’t respected by tourists, who simply drove by. (Travel Tomorrow)