Valletta hosted thousands of revellers on New Year’s Eve but yesterday morning its clean streets showed no signs of the celebrations.

It was the best celebration in three years

A clean-up operation throughout the night, involving 13 people and two mechanical sweepers, collected more than 3.5 tonnes of waste.

And, in the morning, the city’s streets woke up clean, washed and bereft of the plastic cups, glass bottles and food boxes left by the previous night’s partygoers. The cleaning operation started at 2am and was complete by 9.15am.

Valletta mayor Alexiei Dingli said the council wanted to make sure the capital was ready to welcome the dignitaries and people who exchanged greetings with the country’s authorities yesterday morning.

“It was our commitment as a council to have the city clean and all structures, apart from the main stage in St George’s Square, were dismantled throughout the night,” he said.

Satisfied with the national New Year’s Eve celebrations in Valletta, Dr Dingli estimated that about 50,000 revellers could have visited the capital. He said St George’s Square, with a capacity of between 15,000 and 20,000, was full and people also gathered in Republic and Merchant streets.

“It was the best celebration in three years. People had fun and access to and from Valletta by car was free flowing,” he said, adding the council did not receive complaints about the bus service either.

Edward Curmi, a director of G7, the company entrusted with the organisation of the celebrations, described them as “a super event”.

“We had more people than last year. All restaurants were full and people lived up to it. There was a good vibe,” Mr Curmi said.

It has become an event people had come to expect, he added.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com