Interview
‘Beacon of the world’: ex-Uffizi chief vows to
save Florence if elected mayor
Angela
Giuffrida in Rome
Backed by Giorgia Meloni’s party, Eike Schmidt says
cracking down on burger stands, crime and overtourism will help restore status
Tue 23 Apr
2024 06.00 CEST
The former
director of the Uffizi gallery in Florence has promised a crackdown on crime
and burger stands in his quest to restore the Tuscan capital to its former
status as a cultural “beacon of the world”.
German-born
Eike Schmidt, 55, is standing in the city’s mayoral election on a civic list
backed by the prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy and
its ruling coalition partners, in an unusual collaboration that has raised a
few eyebrows in the world of art and politics.
In an
interview with the Guardian, Schmidt defined himself as “very much a centrist”
who during his eight years at the helm of the Uffizi steered clear of
politicking while increasing ticket sales with exhibitions that tackled bold
themes such as violence against women.
But he said
he had felt compelled to throw his hat into the ring “for a city that I love”
after being encouraged to run for mayor by Florentines, who he said stopped him
in the street to vent their frustrations over issues such as rising crime, a
shortage of affordable housing, graffiti, the perennial problem of overtourism
– and fast-food stands.
Pledging to
take action against the stands and mini-markets that have proliferated in the
centre of Florence, Schmidt, who became an Italian citizen last year, said mass
tourism was fuelling a “total deregulation” of the city’s food sector.
“In terms
of tourism what we’ve seen is a lowering of the standards,” he said. “We have
had dozens and dozens of restaurant licences being converted into burger
stands, so people just sell hamburgers and French fries from shop windows.
“There are
no tables, toilets, waste bins … people end up sitting down on any steps they
find, on monuments or outside the homes of citizens … and throwing greasy
papers on the street. It’s a hygienic issue and this total deregulation of the
food service sector really needs to stop.”
Florence is
one of Italy’s most-visited cities and while there is no silver-bullet solution
to overtourism, Schmidt said he would adopt a strategy to spread visitors to
undervisited areas of the city and the Tuscany region.
“We really
shouldn’t have this concentration of all the tourists just in the centre,” he
said. “Even considering a probable growth in numbers, the city should be able
to master it, while also spreading the benefits of tourism to other areas.”
He hopes to
revive Florence’s status as a “beacon” of art and culture by encouraging
home-grown production, be it opera, theatre or exhibits. “We have seen,
especially over the past decade, productions that have been purchased from
elsewhere in the world, while hardly any have been exported.”
Schmidt’s
candidacy in Florence, a leftwing stronghold for decades, spells a genuine
challenge for Italy’s opposition, which in recent years has lost ground to the
rightwing coalition in several key towns and cities in the wider Tuscany
region. A poll in March put Schmidt eights points behind Sara Funaro, the
centre-left’s mayoral candidate, which analysts said in Florentine terms was
highly unusual.
“Based on
the sentiment on the streets and based on surveys, which tell us that this is
the first time in many, many decades that any party other than the left has a
chance to win, I am actually very confident about the possibility of winning,”
Schmidt said.
“Florence
has really the best set of cards that one could imagine, we just have to play
them.”
While at
the Uffizi, Schmidt built a reputation for modernisation, efficiency and order
while maintaining a sharp eye for beauty.
He first
met Meloni after giving her a tour of the gallery a few years ago, and said he
had been “positively impressed” by her leadership since she became prime
minister. “I think she is a very strong and pragmatic leader, and many people
would not have expected that from her before,” Schmidt said.
Meloni’s
government has provoked controversy among many in Italy’s cultural sector for
clearing out the old, often foreign leadership of some of the country’s most
prestigious museums and cultural organisations and pushing for them to be
replaced by Italians.
Critics
have also accused her administration of wanting to bend the state broadcaster,
Rai, to its will, with opposition parties calling last week for the European
Commission to investigate allegations it is trying to turn its news channel
into a “megaphone” for the ruling parties before the European elections.
Echoing
favoured rightwing themes, Schmidt said one of his chief priorities would be
tackling crime, something he claimed the left had “closed its eyes to”.
“Florence
has big issues in terms of security – crime rates are rising across all 14
districts of the city,” he added. “We see it especially more in the periphery,
where crime rates have been consistently rising.”
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