The Culture Council has begun this week the comprehensive rehabilitation of two emblematic murals located on facades in the old town, the mural located in Vicente Gallard street by the painter Fernando Baquero and the mural in Purísima street (Pòsit building) by Gerda Pasteur.
The rehabilitation of both murals is comprehensive and consists of cleaning up the entire façade; after removing the façade cladding, a new special waterproofing mortar will be applied, followed by two coats of chemical primer to increase durability and, finally, the original drawing will be reproduced.
The cost of both restoration works is €28,919 in the case of the Pòsit mural and €54,450 in the case of the mural on Carrer Vicente Gallard, with a completion period of two months.
Both murals date back to 1988 as a result of a mural competition held at that time to beautify the old town of Calpe with the collaboration of local artists or artists based in Calpe. With the passage of time these works have deteriorated and hence the need to rehabilitate them, for which the Town Hall signed collaboration agreements last year with the owners of the facades to carry out the rehabilitation work.
In addition, the Department of Culture has begun work to restore three emblematic places of the municipality's historical and artistic heritage which are in a state of deterioration. Specifically, these are two parts of the old wall and the Gastón Castelló mural in the Plaza del Mosquit.
The Department of Culture intends to continue recovering the different murals in the old town, which is why the restoration of the mural by Pierre Le Fleur in front of the Torreó de la Peça and the one in the Casa del Cocó by Elías Úrbez are also in the pipeline.
The Councillor for Culture, Guillermo Sendra, expressed his satisfaction with the execution of both rehabilitation projects ‘as it will mean the recovery of two murals that were seriously affected by the deterioration of the façades’.