Like Santa Catarina Park, which is no longer open 24 hours a day, Cristina Pedra, Mayor of Funchal, admits that the same measure may occur in other parks/gardens in the city. Namely, the Municipal Garden, due to vandalism.
“Until 20 years ago, Santa Catarina Park was a permanently open space for the public, but that was until unlawful elements began to use it, making the whole area unsafe. This is not the case with other spaces that we have, but with some, we need to start thinking about fencing them in and locking them at night because of the senseless destruction of the carefully planted flowerbeds. The Mayor added, “We plant, we invest a lot of money in plants, in reforestation, and they go there and destroy what we’ve done.”
Concluding, she added:
“Although recognising that it is not easy to fence off public spaces and limit access, the current conditions are unsustainable for everyone. At the moment, we need to assess the pros and cons of restricting access to one of the city’s most popular gardens.”
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
