Two experts who helped secure Valletta's European Capital of Culture in 2018 said Vittoriosa's bid for the 2031 edition was not up to scratch, with missing sections, superficial research and practically nothing said about financing.
"It's not a bid book. It's more like an essay. It's the sort of report you put together in the first month, almost like a scoping report. They never stood a chance with this," said a source who directly worked on Valletta's bid.
An independent European Capital of Culture 2031 selection panel on Tuesday announced that Victoria, Gozo, had been shortlisted to hold the title in 2031, while a bid from Vittoriosa failed to make it through. The application was submitted by Cottonera Foundation, in the name of Vittoriosa and the Port Regional Council.
Prior to the result, the candidates underwent a two-day pre-selection meeting where an independent panel of experts reviewed bids submitted by the two cities. Both bid books were seen by Times of Malta.
Vittoriosa's bid book showed a €400,000 budget for the pre-selection and bid, funded by €100,000 from the local council, €100,000 from the local council division and €200,000 from the regional council. Victoria's did not mention the budget allocated for the bid.
Victoria's 60-page book and Vittoriosa's 50-page book were then analysed by two individuals involved in placing a bid for Valletta, to understand what led to this decision.
Karsten Xuereb, who served as the Valletta 2018 Foundation Executive Director between 2011 and 2017, also reviewed the bids.
"Victoria's bid ticks all the right boxes in terms of quality and detail. It's a good honest proposal. It clearly mentions all the research they carried out and the team involved. They did a really good job and you'd expect them to pass," he said.
Vittoriosa's bid, however, is a different story: "It looks like its an early draft. It's disappointing because they presented good ideas but it's all very embryonic."
What disappointed Xuereb the most was the fact the bid did not open up enough on Vittoriosa's problems. It mentions economic disparities, urban decay, gentrification, social integration and an ageing population, but it does not elaborate how it plans to improve them.
"I don't know if it was a matter of time or if they needed more human resources to carry out more robust research," he said.
Xuereb also raised questions about what research was carried out and by whom, as it was not explicitly written, just as it was in Victoria's bid.
Another member, who was also involved in placing Valletta's bid but who wished to remain anonymous, said: "To be clear, it should have been done by the local council. From what Vittoriosa's mayor said and from what I read, it implies it was done by the Cottonera Foundation, which is incorrect per se."
Apart from that, he said the structure of Vittoriosa's bid was all wrong. He explained that bidders are given a questionnaire.
A guide issued by the European Commission states that the bid books must be "built around the questionnaire... and follow the structure of the six categories of criteria".
Both bids were divided by the six criteria (Contribution to the Long-Term Strategy, European Dimension, Cultural and Artistic Content, Capacity to deliver, Outreach, and Management) but only Victoria's bid answered the questions directly.
"Victoria did it in the correct way by listing every question and answering each one. Vittoriosa clearly knew about it but they didn't really adhere to it. Which would not go down well with the selection panel," he said.
Besides this, he said the bid was weak in terms of artistic direction, it does not say much about finance or how this is going to run.
"It says practically nothing on finance, you can't win like that. Victoria's goes into detail regarding its budget. It also says little about governance; it only mentions the people who will be responsible. What structure will be used? Who will take certain decisions?"
Vittoriosa's failed bid sparked outrage from Vittoriosa's mayor John Boxall, who admitted he never saw the bid and his council was never involved in the application process.
Culture Minister Owen Bonnici distanced himself from this decision, saying it was a regional council matter and not a government matter. He clarified that both candidates received the same treatment from the ministry.
Questions sent to Port Regional Council and the Cottonera Foundation remain unanswered.