Are we heading towards the meeting with the activists, promoted by the councilor Andrea Giorgio but initially rejected by the mayor? At the moment Dario Nardella is thinking of taking the opportunity to open a debate on the issues of environmental sustainability. And for now he says to those young people that “if they are willing to give up these wrong forms of protest to choose even more effective ways to deal with the environmental emergency”, he is not only ready to accept a dialogue but to put in place “concrete initiatives » because «yesterday we blocked the protest but not the desire to protect the planet that hosts us». In fact, “mine was a gesture of interdiction to limit the damage as much as possible – continues the mayor – I experienced that violence as a scar on our history”.
Political controversies and doubts
Those who do not take a step back from the harsh and uncompromising condemnation are the government right in Rome, and the opposition in Florence. From Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano who tweets «for the shenanigans of some inconsiderate people, resources and public money are wasted. We’re thinking of making them pay for the damage they’ve caused.” Sangiuliano would also like to charge the activists for the cost of the 5,000 liters of water used to clean the paint. “And with interest.” The hypothesis of a peacemaking meeting does not like much Jacopo Cellai and Alessandro Draghi of Brothers of Italy as to Marco Stella of Forza Italia who judge the proposal “stuff from Jokes aside” and “surreal”. «These guys are vandals, spoiled people who have no respect for our artistic heritage and for the work of others. I wonder who dictated the line at Palazzo Vecchio, if the mayor Nardella or the councilor Giorgio who is also the Florentine coordinator of the Schlein motion ».
But Stella is not limited to these kinds of doubts. She raises it – with a long video on Facebook – also on the dynamics of the facts: he wonders why there weren’t any traffic police officers in the square while photographers and TV operators were «already present», proof that the blitz had been «predicted», why Nardella was making a video in the square that put him in favor of the camera in the gesture that has become a cult of running and tackling, and why the scaffolding then used to clean up was already ready on the arengario. And he underlined the political expediency of a sudden change of media scenario after days of talking about the rift with former councilor Del Re. Doubts also shared by the 5-star De Blasi and Masi who have prepared a question in the council for tomorrow.
The cleaning of the facade
Meanwhile, the damage has been contained. And the facade of Palazzo Vecchio cleaned apart from two small residues that will be removed tomorrow. But the architect of the Municipality Giorgio Caselli warns: «LThe surface of the wall is extremely porous, the paint is always aggressive especially if sprayed under pressure. We were quick to avoid the worst, if the paint had dried and we would have had to remove it with mechanical or chemical techniques instead of a pressure washer: whoever has smeared Palazzo Vecchio must be thankful that we were already there. It was a miracle.”