Padua may extend face cover ban

(ANSA) - Padua, April 29 - Padua Mayor Massimo Bitonci said Friday the city is assessing measures to enforce an existing ban on covering one's face in public in the interests of security.
    His remarks came after guards at the city's Eremitani Civic Museum on Thursday stopped a woman wearing a niqab - or Islamic veil covering the head and face all the way up to the eyes - from entering. They asked her for identification, and told her to remove the veil before visiting the museum.
    She decided to leave instead.
    "We're assessing a directive extending this type of controls to all museums and public offices, even though existing laws against circulating in public with one's face covered are still in force," Bitonci said.
    He cited a May 1975 public security law banning people from wearing head gear that makes recognition and identification impossible - such as motorcycle helmets and balaclavas - in public.