I read weeks ago that the City Council, at the proposal of the PP, is weighing the possibility of erecting a statue of Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé around the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc. Upon hearing the news, I felt the typical pang of pride of that child who was able to live and grow in the brazen optimism of Olympic Barcelona, one of whose apogees ---in case any member of Generation Z or later is reading me--- was the performance of these two musical giants in Montjuïc singing the song Barcelona (which in turn, and it's something many people don't remember, was the title of a splendid album, though extravagant in the kitsch vein of the late Mercury), which ended up becoming the unofficial but most popular anthem of the '92 orgy. At the same time, I also thought that it would be very difficult for me to oppose a monument that would settle a debt with two of the sound artists who have made me enjoy myself the most throughout my entire life.
However, and understanding that all Catalan parties (even the anti-Catalanists) are very interested in resurrecting that Olympic Barcelona that lived peacefully within the Spanish autonomous system, I began to wrinkle my nose; knowing the current council's taste for dirtying our beautiful city with genuinely hideous sculptures ---a terrible custom that ranges from Lluís Lleó's horrifying Pink Barcino up in the Eixample to Xavier Medina Campeny's delirious animal heads on the Marc and Lluc towers of the Sagrada Família--- I quickly imagined the Easter monkey that our officials could end up embedding in such a noucentista place as the skirt of Montjuïc; a part of the city which, by the way, Barcelonans are supremely lazy to visit, even though it is one of the most dignified places in our city.
In fact, the City Council had already approved that Mercury and Caballé be remembered at a viewpoint near Glòries (specifically, next to Castillejos street), which could lead us to an overabundance of honors. Given all this, this Barcelona enthusiast would propose a path with greater patrimonial sense. Much as Freddie Mercury may have composed some of the songs I would take to a desert island and that as a child I clumsily tried to dance like him ---dressed in fencing shoes---, the figure of Caballé, due to her birth and artistic relationship with the city, is the one who deserves an exclusive monument without any objection. Our Montserrat, and time will prove us Caballistas right, will not only end up being remembered as the best soprano of the 20th century, but as one of the most exceptional interpreters in the entire musical history of the West. I do not exaggerate a single syllable.
Since we are at it, and given the task of devising a worthy tribute, I would propose erecting a statue of our soprano in Plaça de Catalunya. Few people will remember it, but ---as the artist herself explained in the documentary Caballé, beyond music--- when her family was evicted from their home and before starting to work in a workshop cutting handkerchiefs, our most universal musician had spent nights sleeping with her parents on the benches of this Barcelona location. It would be poetic justice, in short, to amend these impoverished beginnings of the soprano with a statue of Caballé dressed as Norma, addressing the Greek divinities from the center of our city. This location would not only be biographically justifiable and honor the honoree, but it would also become the perfect occasion to rethink the physiognomy of the square and its sculptural ensemble.
Most Barcelonians are unaware of it, but Plaça de Catalunya houses an important artistic heritage, full of sculptural works with a post-noucentista air that were created for the 1929 International Exposition, with a gallery of admirable authors such as Eusebi Arnau, Pau Gargallo, and Josep Llimona. The problem with this collection, and why citizens don't admire it, is that it is distributed and patrimonialized like shit, in the middle of useless gardens where only waste and homeless people accumulate. When there is light, you can still get close to contemplate some of the pieces, like the splendid Barcelona by our brilliant Frederic Marès, but at night you can't see a damn thing, which not only hinders the essence of a square with an undeniable heritage, but also isn't very pleasant when it comes to exercising that citizen right called walking.
This militant Barcelonian therefore demands a statue for our Montse, the most extraordinary voice of all time. And he asks the City Council, if it's not too much trouble, to start considering how it can transform Plaça de Catalunya from one of the ugliest urban centers in Europe to, at least, a place that honors its artists and where walking is enjoyable. All this would have amused Caballé greatly. When we have the first issue resolved, I will give you some ideas for Freddie.