Its been in the news, the papers are they are the talk of the Island, This years Christmas lights, or lack of them have been criticised strongly, and walking around Funchal you can see why.
We have a new front to Funchal, with nothing not even a tree to make it look festive, Municipal Square still remains empty, all the little side street have no Christmas lights or decorations. Below is an article from the Diario translated to English so its not perfect, but you can see what they are talking about.
lets hope by Monday 8th December Funchal is looking a little more Christmassy, but its not looking promising.
The Secretariat of Tourism of Madeira admitted today make "some adjustments" in public illuminations Christmas in Funchal, which this year are generating much criticism from the population due to lack of color.
Secretary of guardianship, Conception student, told Lusa agency that the project is "innovative and break with the past", acknowledged that "there will be, of course, those who like and who do not like" and stressed that "there will be things that can be corrected and improved ". "This is the first intervention in the new orientation. There will be a second next year and some adjustments are possible," said the official.
The Regional Secretariat for Tourism and Transport invested this year 1.19 million euros in the low lighting and amphitheater of Funchal, being the author of the project architect Paulo David. The first lights in the main streets of the capital of Madeira, were linked on December 01 and soon generated a wave of criticism, particularly in terms of social networks, due to lack of color, which has always been the lighting brand image holiday. This time, the predominant white, but Conception student says the project "is far from complete," lacking assemble many structures that have not yet arrived in the region, including those that will be introducing the color pink, inspired by the flower kapok this year elected to Funchal christmas tree.
On the other hand, there were delays and resistance from several owners to authorize the placing of hacks in buildings in order to draw the outline of the entire city. "I hope people will change their minds when lighting is fully completed, although be prepared for that, faced with a profound change from the aesthetic point of view, there is some resistance to change," said Conceição student, stressing that "the project was adopted" and "the risks were assumed." The official acknowledged that despite the bill's author be recognized internationally, "there is a gap between what is the design and the technical file in a document and then its implementation in the street, in the open space" so that "all this may come to be adjusted to your time. " Conception student did not indicate a specific date for completion of the project, adding only hope "it very quickly."
How disappointing these lights look in comparison to previous years :-( I have seen much better lights in Bristol, and that's saying something!! I always look forward to coming over for the New Year and seeing what new additions have been made to the Christmas lights each year and what theme has been incorporated. It looks like this years theme is all one colour and extremely boring. However, I am hopeful that the situation will be much improved once all the lights are in-situ. I just hope that the "very different" firework display planned for this year does not disappoint in the way these Christmas lights have done so far this year.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the same about the firework display! 170% increase hopefully in the right direction!
ReplyDeleteIts a huge subject this year, and on Facebook lots of photos and criticism, lets see what Monday 8th brings. Remember these lights have a 3 year contract, but that could well be terminated....
ReplyDelete