Culture

Artists protest in front of the Parisian City Hall

Paris, Jun 26 (EFE / EPA) .- (Camera: Marta Garde / Ian Langsdon) A municipal decree has sown discord in the square of painters in Paris. The City Council has changed the process of granting authorizations and its artists have decided to symbolically protest with their best weapon: a blank canvas.FOOTAGE FROM THE MONTMARTRE PAINTERS 'STRIKE IN PARIS. SOUNDBITES FROM José Luis Leiva, Spanish painter, and Béro, French painterTRANSLATIONLEIVA -We want to reclaim our spaces, we have been here for more than 30 years. The identity of this place is in danger. We can tell the story of this place. Young people don't know its history. This place is unique. No other place in the world where you can see painters doing their work. It's about the destruction of this place, it will become a place full of sellers, not artists.BERO -It is not a question of preserving privileges, but of preserving the identity of Montmartre-The new regulation seems inappropriate to us. It is one that normally applies only to economic activities on public space. It is true that we artists have an economic activity, but our activity is above all cultural.