Just as was done with the Santa Catarina Park, which is no longer open 24 hours a day and is now closed at night, Cristina Pedra, Mayor of Funchal, admits that a similar measure could be implemented in other parks/gardens in the city. In particular, the Municipal Garden, given the history of vandalism that has been occurring there.
“Santa Catarina Park was a forbidden place 20 years ago. There were all kinds of initiatives that I wouldn’t even recommend entering. This isn’t the case with other spaces we have, but some should start thinking about [fencing them], also because of the vandalism that has been taking place”, she admitted, on the sidelines of the ceremony for the 20th anniversary of the Santa Catarina Park Playroom. The mayor points to the example of Funchal’s Municipal Garden, “in front of the [Baltazar Dias] Municipal Theatre”, given the number of incidents recorded there against the botanical heritage. “We plant, we invest a lot of money in plants, in reforestation, and they go there and destroy it”, she explained.
She acknowledges that “it is not easy” to fence off a public space and limit its access to the population, but the proof that this measure may be the most appropriate is the current reality of the attractive Santa Catarina Park. She therefore maintains that “we cannot stop considering the pros and cons”, in the certainty that it will not be during this term of office that the perimeter of the Municipal Garden will be fenced off.