Almost 160,000 visitors came to Malmö during Eurovision week. They spent a lot of money in town and many were in Malmö for the first time.
– But Malmö was not quite the same during Eurovision. I think that the very supervision of all security made Malmö different, says Karin Karlsson, Malmöstad’s project manager for the Eurovision Song Contest.
The city of Malmö had budgeted 30 million but had to add another 12.8 million for security measures before and during the Eurovision week.
Still satisfied
– In a troubled time, we made a perfect Eurovision. We managed to keep peace and quiet around the arena area and the Malmö Live area, so we are very pleased, says Karin Mårtensson, CEO of Malmö Arena.
75,000 tickets were sold for the heats, partial competitions and the final in Malmö Arena and it flowed well when the audience had to go through three security checks before entering the arena.
Threatened the staff
But what was less funny was that staff who worked with Eurovision and were partners were harassed.
– Those who had food carts in the square in front of the arena were threatened and did not dare to stay. Employees who wore jackets with Malmö Arena written on them received comments about it and there were threatening posts on social media, says Karin Mårtensson.
Big protests
There were a couple of large demonstrations near the Malmö Arena in protest against Israel being allowed to participate in the competition. There were also instances of visitors being questioned by protesters while queuing before being allowed into the arena.
Police officers from other parts of Sweden, Norway and Denmark came to Malmö to help ensure security. Their final bill is not ready, but a report came out in June showing that it cost at least SEK 22 million.
Was there anything that surprised you during Eurovision?
– I have worked with this for 35 years, but I have never seen the image of hatred and threats be so strong. We never experience that in other contexts, says Karin Mårtensson.