Molina Square, the multi-purpose square of the 'Upper'

It is considered a square, but it is hard to believe that it is. Two large streets, Balmes and Via Augusta, divide it into three pieces and pedestrians, who should be using it, are left with the leftover spaces from the vehicles circulating on these two major arteries. In Plaza Molina, the different uses adjust as best they can, occupying every corner. The square functions as a motorcycle parking lot; it is common to see them parked right behind the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat station there. It is also that, a train stop, a place of interaction, a crossroads of neighborhoods, between Putxet i el Farró and Galvany. But it is also a place for sunny terraces, shops, it functions as a pipican and a play area for children. And now it has also become a storage area for the works being done on Balmes street.

In one of the three fragments of the square, on the mountain side, where the peculiar Ferrocarrils station is located, a kind of protruding glass roundabout, there are two terraces that are always full. Here in the mornings the sun shines and it is taken advantage of. The tables, now with electric heaters, are highly sought after by groups of young people, very blonde girls, elderly ladies with sunglasses, crimped and well-combed hair, and couples, women with animal print and men bundled up in padded vests. The square is one of the entrance gates to the upper, from there, this human landscape will predominate.

Next to the restaurant premises there is still a perfumery, a shoe store that has been in liquidation for months, and two different banking entities, an unusual fact because thousands have disappeared in Barcelona but, on the other hand, here they are face to face and next to another service on the verge of extinction, a kiosk with newspapers and magazines on display. In Plaza Molina there are things that are not easily found; on the sea side, there is also a yellow mailbox, one of the old-fashioned ones, which keeps company with the sculpture of Joan Maragall, practically in front of the house where the poet lived and which is now a museum. In this other piece of the square, the facade is occupied by two restaurants, a shawarma place and another for Argentine empanadas. Here a group of children plays soccer dodging the terraces, some parked motorcycles (badly parked), pedestrians and dogs. They have built goals with their jackets and make the most of the space.

If the sun hits the mountain part, here you can enjoy the shade. There are three trees, although it's hard to detect them. They don't have any prominence, but they are unique in the city, they are Parasenegalias, a species native to South America; they used to live in Gal·la Placídia but were transplanted here. In this piece of the square there is also the most historical and most significant element, a fountain from 1874, although there are doubts about the exact date of its creation. A pompous fountain, with the coats of arms of the city and that of the old town of Sarrià sculpted in stone, and which, like the trees, also exists without much fanfare.

But the most curious thing about this non-square is who gives it its name, the Osona architect Francesc Daniel Molina, who among other things made the Plaça Reial. Molina designed the most beautiful square in Barcelona and, paradoxically, gives his name to one of the ugliest in the city.