The Diplomat
The statue of Juan Ponce de León, the first governor of Puerto Rico, was toppled yesterday in Old San Juan, the historic centre of the Caribbean capital, hours before the arrival of His Majesty the King on the island to mark the 500th anniversary of the founding of the city.
According to Efe, the statue of the Spanish conquistador, located in San José square, one of the most central squares in the Puerto Rican capital, was knocked down and fractured when it fell from the pedestal on which it stood.
The statue, as a result of the fall, was divided into trunk and legs, while part of the pedestal was also fractured into multiple pieces.
The San Juan Municipal Police are investigating the incident and are trying to find out who is responsible for the damage to the statue, which was caused in the early hours of last night. The mayor of San Juan, Miguel Romero, regretted the incident and said that the investigation is already underway, which will include the analysis of cameras near the site in order to identify those responsible.
He stressed that it was the “product of some bandit”, and said he did not understand what message the perpetrators of the vandalism wanted to convey. The mayor of San Juan assured that the collapse of the statue will not affect the visit of Felipe VI. “Maybe the king doesn’t even notice this kind of thing,” he said, after indicating that the “visit is going to be fine”.
Felipe VI began a brief official visit to the island last night with an agenda that includes a reception at the Casa de España in Old San Juan, near where the collapsed statue is located.
Juan Ponce de León, born in Santervás de Campos (Valladolid) in April 1460, was the first ruler of Puerto Rico and discoverer of Florida, now the United States. Acts of hostility towards statues of Spanish conquistadors scattered throughout the United States had not reached Puerto Rico, a Freely Associated State of the United States.
