One of the first things I noticed about Madrid was the preponderance of statues. There are statues everywhere. There are two things that pop out to the casual observer: round-points, which occur every block on some streets, and statues and/or fountains, which are often in the centre of those round-points.
The first statue I saw was this Bronze Midas in the airport (note: I named him myself. He and his luggage were both unlabelled). Apparently, this man had also just missed bus 894 on a cold winter Saturday evening, only he didn’t have hyper-animated twins sword-fighting in front of him and bumping into him and climbing on his lap, so he froze. It’s a sad tale, and they set him up as a caution to others. Now, everything he touches turns to ice, I explained to Abel.
What amused me most was how he was set up; just staring at a wall. The patron saint of bored travelers? I dunno.
Then, we walked outside to see this lady in all her glory, as my mother would say. I was curious so I went to look at the sign, and explained to Ilsa that this was supposed to be Europa, being carried away by Zeus in the form of a donkey. (Supposed to be a bull but come on; you’re telling me a Spaniard couldn’t do a better bull than that? They do a better rendition in every souvenir shop!)
Ilsa was unimpressed. “I thought Europa was supposed to be pretty,” she said.
“I suppose the sculptor thinks she is,” I said.
“He must be Mauritanian then,” she replied. Which cracked me up.
Driving down the long main street of Torrejon, we passed many round points and statues, one of a torso rising out of concrete waves, another vaguely human in shape and sort of dancing, I would say. All those years of Art History studies weren’t wasted on me!
Of course, downtown Madrid had lots of statues too. This one was a king.
This is a famous image of Madrid, a bear and a tree. For some reason, I saw fit to snap it with lots of people around it.
We wandered around a bit and saw some churches…
and some other statues…
and the museum of ham.
You get the idea.
So why do you think the Spanish are so fond of statues? City beautification? A predeliction for playing with stone? Any thoughts?
Planet Nomad 
10 comments
February 14, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Mary-LUE
That is strange… putting the statue facing a wall.
In the small city I grew up in, it became a city ordinance (or something like that) that new buildings had to have art installations. As a result, there are all they ridiculous statues and modern art pieces around town. I think I read once that it is called–disparagingly–plop art. And that is about what it is. Plop!
The Europa statue is interesting. I wonder why they wanted a statue depicting that?
February 14, 2009 at 5:17 pm
slouching mom
loved everything about this post.
February 14, 2009 at 9:43 pm
planetnomad
MaryLUE: There’s a wall in Portland painted with a picture of a banana and a big sign that says “Art Fills the Void.” It’s always amused me.
Of course, this is the same town that used to sell a poster of the mayor opening his rain coat in front of a statue, that read “Expose Yourself to Art.”
February 15, 2009 at 1:31 am
Beck
The sitting guy statue reminds me of a more-upmarket Ronald McDonald – we have lots of those sitting on benches around here.
Hey, my town is full of statues, too! But that is because a sculptor lives in town and sees fit to do so. We want to get him to make us a 8 foot tall Pippi.
February 15, 2009 at 4:15 am
Jeanne A
I think it must have been a part of an economic stimulus plan——–
February 15, 2009 at 3:30 pm
AuthorMomWithDogs
Ditto slouching mom. Wonderful post. And Ilsa! Must be Mauritanian – LOL!
I wonder how many other people pass by and never even notice the statues are there. That’s the funny thing about art — who it lures in and who it doesn’t.
Anyway, hope you don’t mind, but we’ve tagged you for the Honest Scrap Award. : ) It’s an award for people who display transparency and honesty in their blogs.
February 15, 2009 at 4:58 pm
jolyn
Um, no idea. Perhaps a government subsidy for artists? Would love to see them in person some day as I have never visited Spain to speak of. Unless you count the airport or the Canary Islands (I don’t), where we never even left the resort.
What a fun Award! I liked the Portland poster, too.
February 17, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Tonggu Momma
Sometimes I really, really, really wish I lived in Mauritania. Because then I could go up a size or three with no guilt.
February 22, 2009 at 12:09 pm
marta
The cheese is called Manchego and it is indeed delicious.
The Europa statue is by Botero, a Colombian sculptor. He usually displays his collection of statues around cities (I remember seeing one at Paseo de Castellana about 12 or 13 years ago and another one in my homecity of Lisbon). Then the city inhabitants choose, by poll, which one they want the city council to buy to be on permanent display. I guess the Europa statue is in Madrid for that reason.
Madrid is not an old city by European standards (only less than 500 years old) and is not exactly beautiful but has lots of gems: the Retiro, the big park with a pond and rowing boats and a conservatory in the city centre, the Casa del Campo, another park just off the city centre which you can reach by a suspended cable car (teleferico) and which has a very good zoo, the Madrid de los Austrias neighbourhoods in the centre, and the adjoing plazas, filled with restaurants, bodegas, shops, the El Rastro marché aux puces, the posher neighbourhoods around the Prado, the smart cafés… I could go on and on but what really makes the city special is the street life, both day and night. I love it that everybody – rich, poor, spanish, foreign, young, old, very young – just hang around, chatting, shopping, drinking, eating, windowshopping, evening strolling… It is really the main power of Madrid.
Hope you are able to go there again and stay a little longer.
Marta
March 6, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Caffienated Cowgirl
Hmmm…I don’t know. The Germans have a similar love affair with statues.
But seriously, that lady godiva on a bull? She’s…umm…interesting 🙂