A number of restaurants in Valletta have come under fire for erecting tents and canopies in St John’s Square, obscuring examples of the city’s typical architecture as well as parts of the façade of St John’s Co-Cathedral.
The issue gained traction last week, when Keith Sciberras, head of the History of Art department at the University of Malta, said that a 19th-century fountain, Mariano Gerada’s Unicorn fountain, was being obscured by a tented structure used to seat patrons of Luciano restaurant.
The fountain is one of two carved by Gerada that flank the entrance to the church. Both the Lion and the Unicorn fountains as well as St John’s Co-Cathedral have Grade 1 protected status.
“In almost every village core we can see rampant abuse by commercial establishments in placing tents, heaters and sandwich boards next to monuments or heritage sites,” Prof. Sciberras told Times of Malta.
“Tents in St John’s Square have completely corrupted the urban space and the urban context of Valletta. It has become virtually impossible to appreciate major façades, monuments and fountains.”
San Giovanni Tent
Kantina Tent
Prof. Sciberras also expressed concern that tables and chairs of such establishments were being left outdoors in the public square overnight, and that gas heaters and electrical wiring were placed alongside the outer wall of the cathedral.
The interior wall of the Unicorn fountain happens to be the home of the Oratory of the Decollato, where Caravaggio’s ‘Beheading of St John the Baptist’ is housed.
“For a heritage city to work, it cannot be a dead monument. Commercialisation helps in encouraging activity. But discipline has to be enforced,” Prof. Sciberras noted.
“We have to be an active city, but commercialisation cannot overtake culture.”
Three establishments, Luciano restaurant, Kantina café and San Giovanni restaurant, have erected tented structures with outdoor seating outside St John’s Co-Cathedral.
Luciano, whose establishment is housed on Merchants Street, has a tented structure as well as tables and chairs outside the cathedral, with the restaurant’s tent obscuring the Unicorn fountain.
Joseph Bonello Bianco, one of Luciano’s proprietors, was subject to two enforcement notices in 2016 and 2017 for placing street furniture outside and installing a tented structure without a permit. In 2016 Luciano’s submitted an application to place tables and chairs in the area. It was recommended for refusal and was subsequently withdrawn by the applicant. No valid permits could be found by Times of Malta for tented structures or tables and chairs.
When asked if he had a valid permit for his canopy and seating area, Mr Bonello Bianco said he had spoken to the “relevant authorities” and that he could not discuss “personal matters” over the phone.
Kantina café proprietor Julian Galea told Times of Malta that he did have a permit for tented structures outside St John’s Co-Cathedral.
Mr Galea’s architect said the structures were permissible under a Development Notification Order (DNO).
Kantina had filed a DNO to place tables and chairs outside that was accepted in 2009. In 2015, a fresh planning application to replace existing umbrellas with larger ones was refused.
Since 2014, Kantina has been hit with four enforcement notices to remove tented structures on public land.
The most recent, issued in 2017, has been referred for Direct Action vetting. The Regularisation and Direct Action unit fall under the Planning Authority’s Enforcement Directorate.
It has become virtually impossible to appreciate major facades, monuments and fountains
When asked if permits were in place for tented structures outside San Giovanni restaurant, proprietor Christopher Falzon preferred not to comment.
This year an application was filed by San Giovanni to erect a temporary structure from December 12 until April 2020.
Tented structures in front of the restaurant have been in place since at least December 4. The application was eventually withdrawn.
Representations by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage on the application said it was “against the introduction of tented structures in the vicinity of St John’s Co-Cathedral and other historical monuments” and urged the Planning Authority to ensure that all structures on the site are covered by the required permits.
San Giovanni was subject to two enforcement notices for the placing of tables and chairs and installation of tented structures.
The most recent, issued in 2017, has had action suspended until another application for outdoor seating and canopies, currently under review by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal, is concluded.