TV personality and visual artist Paola Durante says her piece at the Catrinas exhibit on Puerto Vallarta’s Malecón was vandalized. She went live from the boardwalk and challenged the city’s security just as Day of the Dead visitors began to arrive. The claim touched a nerve in a city preparing its signature holiday displays and a record stream of selfie-hunters. What exactly happened on Sunday? Who’s responsible for protecting the art, and what will the city do as the crowds build this week?
On Sunday, October 26, Paola Durante said one of her pieces at the Malecón’s Catrinas exhibit was damaged and went live from the boardwalk to call out the city’s security. The complaint landed days before the core Day of the Dead events, and while new photo-friendly pieces rise across the seafront. The festival has become a magnet for visitors and selfie stops, with giant Catrinas and dozens of decorated figures stretching along the promenade.
Paola Durante artwork vandalized
Durante’s live video and posts framed the damage as preventable with tighter patrols on the Malecón. She argued that municipal security hasn’t kept pace with the size and exposure of this year’s displays. The official Day of the Dead program itself advertises the monumental Catrina and more than 80 large-format pieces along the route, which draws constant foot traffic and late-night crowds. That visibility is the point—and the risk.
A local report published Sunday said Durante broadcast from the Malecón and criticized the administration of Mayor Luis Ernesto Munguía over safety guarantees. The story quickly circulated on local feeds as residents debated how much protection the installations actually have overnight.
City leaders have spent weeks promoting a rejuvenated holiday season, and agencies have publicly coordinated an operations plan for panteons, plazas, and cultural events. That plan points to joint patrols and crowd management as visitor numbers increase in the first days of November. The question now is whether that presence will extend to static art pieces along the waterfront during the hours when the promenade is at its most vulnerable.
What the city says and what comes next
As of Sunday night, officials had highlighted a broader “Día de Muertos 2025” security operation, but there was no specific city statement addressing Durante’s piece or damage reported at the Catrinas exhibit. The municipal push includes patrols in high-traffic areas and around festival venues. Yet, artists on the strip still describe a gap between plans on paper and the practical task of guarding dozens of installations in open public space.
This matters beyond a single artwork. The Catrinas have become part of Puerto Vallarta’s identity and economy. The displays bring families, vendors, and photographers; they also invite touching, climbing, and midnight dares. If the city wants the Malecón to double as an outdoor gallery, it will need a visible, sustained presence across the whole route—not just around stages and parade crossings. A simple, human fix could go a long way: clear “do not touch” lines, assign volunteer docents during peak hours, and establish predictable patrol loops after dark.
For now, Durante’s livestream did what art sometimes does: it forced an uncomfortable conversation. She put a spotlight on the gap between showpiece spectacle and day-to-day protection—as crowds swell and cameras rise for the season’s most photographed week.
