Updated 3.05pm, adds Heritage Malta statement

The Nationalist Party asked on Wednesday how part of Palazzo Vilhena, a palace just inside Mdina, has started being used as a restaurant.

Julia Zahra, the party spokesperson for culture, in a statement asked Culture Minister Owen Bonnici to explain how the historic palace, that falls within the remit of Heritage Malta, had been handed to a private operator for the operation of a restaurant.

It was being used as a venue for a pop-up summer restaurant by the owners of the Grotto Tavern, running until August 13.

The deal, she said, had been done quietly without anyone knowing.

It meant, she said, that Heritage Malta was using the national heritage for commercial purposes, and it was doing so without any transparency.

Zahra said the minister also needed to explain the lack of curators at Heritage Malta.

It was a concern, she said, that while the role of curators was to preserve historic sites, the government was only intent on making money. 

The owners of Rabat restaurant Grotto Tavern, announced last month that it would run a summer pop-up until August 13.

It began publishing social media teasers in July that it would appear in a secret 'historical location', which it unveiled as Palazzo Vilhena later that month. 

In a post on Facebook several days ago, the organisers thanked all those who were involved including its head chef Terence Paul Saliba. 

Heritage Malta replies

In a reply, Heritage Malta said its commercial arm Heritage Malta Services Ltd aimed to commercialise resources that may be commercialised, to generate funds which are then injected back into the protection of national cultural heritage. 

In the case of Vilhena Palace, it used an existing commercial contract to embark on a four-week trial (July 19 - August 14) to analyse the viability and monetary potential of such a restaurant.

The aim was also to establish whether HM should issue u public call in this regard in future or whether it should be HM itself that operates the initiative internally. 

HM said such arrangements are conducted regularly, in particular with regard to private functions and events held when Heritage Malta sites are rented out.

“The agency does not promote such functions and neither did it promote this initiative of temporary catering at Vilhena Palace, albeit the company in charge of the catering promoted the initiative via its own channels.”

HM also noted that in that past four years it has invested in its curatorial staff and also recruited several new employees as curatorial support to assist curators in their day-to-day tasks.

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