Vittoriosa council says it was not involved in Capital of Culture bid

Vittoriosa’s local council was not involved in the application process for the European Capital of Culture in 2031, Mayor John Boxall said after the city missed out on being shortlisted.

The local council announced on Wednesday on Facebook that it would be working towards understanding why it was not picked to be shortlisted for the prestigious title on Tuesday, while Gozo’s Victoria was.

“At this stage, the council will meet with all the parties concerned who were entrusted with the preparation of this application in order to determine what led to this result,” the council wrote on Facebook.

The council congratulated the Victoria local council, which, with no other contenders, looks set to be European Capital of Culture in 2031. 

Speaking to Times of Malta, Boxall said that Fondazzjoni Kottonera was responsible for making the bid. This foundation is responsible for overseeing the regeneration of Senglea, Vittoriosa, Cospicua and Kalkara.

Boxall explained that although the bid was made in Vittoriosa’s name, it incorporated the whole area covered by the Port Regional Council.

“We were never involved in the bid process. [The foundation] was left to work alone,” Boxall said. In fact, Boxall revealed that he never even saw the bid that was presented to the panel of experts.

“I still have not seen the bid. I was only handed the bid after the result was revealed so that I could take a photo with Victoria’s mayor, where we shook hands and passed the bid to each other,” Boxall said.

The mayor added that he was informed that the reason why the bid was rejected was that it was a “weak” application.

In the comments of Vittoriosa's post, Kalkara’s mayor, Wayne Aquilina, publicly expressed his support for Boxall and Vittoriosa’s council. “There were a lot of questions that needed to be answered, and I hope that someday we will receive a response,” Aquilina said.

The final decision on whether Victoria will be crowned the title will happen in September 2026. The Gozitan capital is set to be handed the title alongside a yet unnamed city in Spain.

It is the second time a Maltese city has taken the prestigious title since Valletta in 2018.

The announcement followed a two-day pre-selection meeting held at the Valletta Design Cluster, where an independent panel of experts appointed by the European Commission and national authorities reviewed bids submitted by the two Maltese cities.

Questions have been sent to Fondazzjoni Kottonera.