“As I have said many times, if you don’t take risks, you don’t win. If you want to achieve different things, you have to act differently. We have to take the bull by the horns and be brave to remove the stigma we have due to West End“. With these words, the mayor of Sant Antoni, Marcos Serra, justifies his decision to go ahead with the project to paint a work by artist Okuda San Miguel on a layer of asphalt on Calle Santa Agnès, the main artery of West End. And he does so despite the opposition by his government partner from El PI, Joan Torres, and now also of his other political ally from Ciudadanos, José Ramón Martín, and despite the fact that the plenary approved in May by majority a motion driven precisely by Torres against the contracting of sculptures and artistic interventions without a public competition.

La Baldosa De Piedra Natural Elegida Para El Casco Urbano. | D. I.

The natural stone tile chosen for the town center of West End. | D. I.

“The decision for West End has been taken”, says Serra categorically, who adds: “The contracting and the budget still need to be drawn up”, although he also recognizes that “technical issues are still missing, such as ensuring the quality of the paint, that it is resistant to detergents and the passage of vehicles” to guarantee that “it will hold up well throughout the season”. The cost of Okuda’s project, complemented with colored tarpaulins for shade designed by Misterpiro, initially amounts to 186,000 euros.

Tiles ordered for West End

While the mayor assures that the decision has already been made, the department headed by the first deputy mayor, Joan Torres, of El PI, has already ordered the supplier to manufacture 1,350 square meters of the chosen tiles (natural granite stone) to pave calle Santa Agnès. Also 750 square meters of the same paving stone have been ordered for calle Sant Mateu and 605 square meters for calle Colom, which will be laid from January.

The mayor justifies having also ordered the tiles for calle Santa Agnès, which in principle will not be installed, in case “at the last minute, unexpectedly, something goes wrong” with the Okuda work project. “There is also the option of canceling the order at the last minute. If we didn’t order it now, the factory would not have it in time [for January],” says Serra, who adds that the option of using the tiles that are not installed in Santa Agnès for the streets in the same area to be paved is also on the table. “As the tone of the granite grain can change from one year to another, we have thought of storing these tiles for the next streets,” adds Serra.

The mayor says he has already transferred his decision to his government partners and, as he notes, the representative of El PI “has accepted it despite the fact that he believes it is not the right thing to do” and the councilman of Ciudadanos agrees.

“The paint won’t hold up.”

The second deputy mayor, José Ramón Martín, believes that painting the ground in West End “will look ugly”. “It would look a little curious that the pavement of the old town is one way and a street is asphalted [with the work of Okuda],” says the mayor of Citizens, who also doubts that with the traffic this street has, the paint “will not hold for more than one season.” Therefore, in favor of the heart of West End having a “differential” mark, Martin believes it would be more accurate that the work of Okuda is represented on the walls, but not on the ground. He also points out that if a few months ago there was unanimity among West End business owners about Okuda’s painting, now “there is division”.

For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.