Historic Marian Statue Damaged During Preparations for July 16 Celebrations
According to local accounts, a 100-year-old statue, standing in St George's Square in Valletta, Malta, in preparation for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on July 16th was heavily damaged. Pictures show the statue face down on the ground. It had been sitting on its historic pedestal. The pedestal was also damaged.
Fr Alex Scerri is the prior of the Carmelite church. He said, "we do not allow anyone or anything to rob us of the joy and love we have for the much-loved Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in our capital city."
The damage was caused by equipment being used by a film crew. The sponsors of the celebration, the Għaqda Festa Madonna tal-Karmnu Valletta, said it “was considering no longer putting up the traditional street decorations after what it described as the latest in a series of obstacles faced by volunteers.”
According to the reports, the association alleged that equipment, machinery, and trucks connected to a film being shot in Valletta caused damage to the century-old statue and its pedestal. A police report has been filed.
The Culture Minister of the Maltese government says that an agreement had been reached for the Malta Film Commission to cover all costs arising from the damage. He also said that any restoration works required would be carried out by a restorer chosen by the Għaqda Festa Madonna tal-Karmnu. Others have questioned why the Malta Film Commission, a publicly funded body, was covering the cost of repairing the damaged statue and pedestal. Taxpayers should not be made to bear the financial burden of mistakes caused by private commercial interests.
A spokesperson for the association said it was still too early to determine whether the statue could be fully repaired because of its age.
The incident raised the opportunity for people to be reminded of the movement throughout Europe against the number of tourists clogging European cities. Barcelona is just one of the cities rethinking policies because of “overtourism.” Approximately 30 million people visit annually, and half are day-trippers all wanting to congregate in just a small area of a few city blocks. To save the City of Barcellona and its housing market, officials are revoking all short-term tourist rental licenses by 2028.
Although not directly related to tourism, the organizing association says that organizing the annual feast had become increasingly difficult. They claim traditional celebrations were repeatedly being put in second place. They cited that outdoor catering areas were often given priority over feast decorations and religious celebrations, while film productions were now creating further difficulties. Disruptions caused by preparations for the movie production included trucks and cranes obstructing the route of the feast procession. The route of the procession would have to be altered because of the crane erected along its usual route. Two years ago, the procession for Our Lady of Mount Carmel was stopped in Merchants Street until an electrical cable crossing the road could be removed.
The Valletta Local Council said the city's heritage "deserves to be respected and protected with the utmost responsibility," adding that it “would continue monitoring the situation to ensure responsibility was assumed where appropriate and that the damage was professionally restored.”
