One hears every other day about the ongoing restoration, to their former glory, of façades of various historical buildings. The latest restorations are those in progress on the façades of Auberge de Castille.

Those that are somewhat knowledgeable about our local globigerina limestone are aware that if one attempts to abrade deeply embedded dirt from the face of old stone blocks, and in the process disturbs its patina, the face of the stone block will erode and disintegrate rapidly. “Patina” is the encrustation which age gives to the face of stone blocks, exposed to climatic elements.

I have no doubt that whoever has been given the responsibility to carry out this work knows all about it professionally, in depth and scientifically. Hence, for those, like myself, that have limited knowledge about this matter, and for the public in general, it would be appreciated if an assurance were to be given in these columns, that the patina of the old stone blocks is not being disturbed, and the cleaning being done is strictly superficial. In my humble opinion, if it were not, the damage would be irreversible!

If it is not a trade secret, a brief explanation of the treatment that is being adopted would be highly appreciated. Is it not better to have irreplaceable monumental buildings with dirty façades, than ones with their façades doomed to erode within a decade?