The Gisbert street tunnel has gone from offering an inhospitable image to immersing those who visit it in the depths of the Cartagena coast. It is a large painting of 800 square meters, entitled ‘Aquatic Inflection’ and made by the urban artist Kraser. It is the last great work of the Graffiti and Street Art service of the Department of Youth, which during the eleventh legislature was headed by the now non-attached former councilor, before the PSOE, David Martínez Noguera. At the moment, it is unknown which mayor of the new municipal Corporation will take over.
The purpose of this service is to turn the white walls of the municipality, often the object of vandalism, into yet another tourist attraction: an open-air urban museum. To fulfill this purpose, the budget has grown by more than 200% in just one year, going from the 6,000 euros invested last year to 20,000 euros this year.
The Youth Department works with other departments and municipal areas, such as the Parks and Gardens, Equality, Culture, Decentralization, Infrastructures service and the District councils, as well as with festivals such as Mucho Más Mayo and the Night of the Museums, to carrying out the work carried out throughout the year.
Graffiti serve to express Cartagena’s identity, as in the case of the work ‘Inflexión Acuática’, and embellish those blank spaces that time and human action have deteriorated. One of the works this year with the greatest impact is the decoration of the Earth Wall staircase, located next to the Court of First Instance number 2 and Civil Registry of Tierno Galván street, which the City Council wants to turn into another attraction for those couples who attend the registry to get married.
First was the rehabilitation of the Earth Wall stairway, which gives access to pedestrians from Tierno Galván street, in the lower part of the city, to Muralla de Tierra street in the upper part. Later, the artist Dyca represented Himilce and Emilia Paula, the main female characters of the Carthaginian and Roman festivities, in homage to the female world.
All the works are documented and included in the Street Museum catalog (smcartagena.es). The platform allows searching by author or by work, offering detailed technical data, images and location to enjoy urban art to the fullest.
Waiting for a new ordinance to fine graffiti
Cartagena’s cleaning ordinance will include fines for graffiti artists whose graffiti is considered acts of vandalism. This was confirmed in a municipal plenary session two years ago by the then Councilor for Infrastructures, María Casajús. The City Council continues to work on the draft, but given the new obligations that exist for city councils with the introduction of the fifth container for organic waste, the reform will be carried out by a specialized company for adaptation to European regulations. “It is a complex issue and the City Council intends to get ahead and not take false steps,” explains a municipal spokeswoman. The ordinance dates from 1984 and the only change made since then took place in 2011.
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