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If an alien landed in the Plaça de la Plana in Badalona, three things would immediately catch their attention. Well, I say alien to use that worn-out resource of alien life, but at this point, I realize it no longer makes sense. Especially when every day we calmly confirm that aliens are among us, pass for normal, and function as common currency in the market. In fact, they are usually the ones who shout the most, and that's why they manage to go more unnoticed, because what you have to do to blend in is shout really loud. Therefore, it's better if I start over: whoever has never set foot in Badalona –or has done so under anomalous circumstances, like a funeral or a poetry recital–, when they arrive at La Plana –which is what this square is popularly called– three elements will catch their attention: the old aesthetic of the sports center, the generous spaciousness of the square, and the monument that one doesn't quite know what it is, but when in doubt, it's a monument to the sardana.
The chronicles say that this square was not urbanized until after the Civil War, that from 1979 it left behind its Francoist denomination to recover the popular name of La Plana, that the basketball court was inaugurated in 1948 and covered 14 years later...
Let's start with the monument. In this country, when a monument has an intricate formulation –four irons rising without a specific direction– and there's no way to figure out what it commemorates, then it's a monument to the sardana. And let it be known that I don't use this comment because the sculpture in La Plana seemed unappealing to me. On the contrary: I was struck by the freedom with which some iron ribbons peeled off and contorted towards the sky and the turquoise blue that colored them, from halfway up, somewhat arbitrarily, and which seemed to be in conjunction with the blue of the sports center's door. But it turns out I couldn't see that it was a monument to the sardana (I didn't notice the small plaque at one end of the sculpture's base, I didn't dare step on the grass to get closer... Bah, chronicler's excuses). Then I got home and all the fabrications I had built to unravel the metaphysical meaning of the square's ensemble went to waste thanks to a quiet internet search, which showed me that this is a square with history. The monument is the work of Esther Albardané, an artist with well-known work in Italy and Japan, and was erected in 1988, when Badalona was Ciutat Pubilla de la Sardana.
The burst of nostalgia expands when I discover that this sports center was the first field of the Penya –the Juventut de Badalona– and the first indoor basketball court in the State. Now I even regret not having knelt.The chronicles say that this square was not urbanized until after the Civil War, that from 1979 it left behind its Francoist name to recover the popular name of La Plana, that the basketball court was inaugurated in 1948 and covered 14 years later... Eh, let's stop at basketball. When I went to see this square, I couldn't resist the urge to peek at the court (it interested me more than the ironworks). The exterior appearance of the sports center refers to an aesthetic from decades ago: Olympic rings high on the facade, maroon in color, with the door and turquoise blue plinth like that of the sardana monument. This wrapper teleported me to basketball courts from twenty and thirty years ago. Then, a skinny girl, who looked like she would fall straight to the ground with a gust of wind, would grab the ball, get tired of dribbling it while looking at the ground the whole time – as all children do when they start playing basketball – and the other nine players around the ball, and the swarm of girls going up and down, and it was a miracle if any basket was scored. And now the ball would go out of control and a group of four or five would form, thrown to the ground, struggling until the referee blew the whistle for "jump ball." And a girl – who could have been me – would put her hand on her knee, with a slight burn due to the forced landing on the court.
The outbreak of nostalgia expands when I discover that this sports center was the first home of La Penya –Juventut de Badalona– and the first indoor basketball court in the State. Now I even regret not having knelt. But what I did do was walk around the entire square, mesmerized by the children playing in the playgrounds. There is a smaller park on the left side and a larger one on the right side, facing the sea. In the larger park, three lanky children, on their way to adolescence, make an appearance. They don't know it, but in four days they won't be coming anymore. Today they are still there and are dedicated to calling and showing the rest how strong they are, hanging from some structure for a few seconds, to see who can hold on longer. Behind a first lanky boy, a skinny one wants to imitate him. It's curious how from a young age, when they haven't even left the park yet, mimesis is activated, this impulse to want to impress others and to bring out, in some cases, the disco gorilla they carry inside. The three pre-adolescents contrast with some girls lying under the structure of the playhouse, who seem to be talking about their things, oblivious –still, fortunately– to the commotion and swagger they will know as adults, when they meet the real aliens.