This piece can be found at the far corner of the Plaça del Fossar de les Moreres, which is notable for its curved metal memorial topped off with an ever-burning flame. This plaça is especially important as it is the tricentennial of the War of Succession, and was in fact full of tour groups listening to the story of the war in various languages. You can find more about the plaça and its significance here.
This simple policeman and the rat who seems to be offering him a colourful bouquet is a rarity as this plaça is generally free of any non-commissioned artwork. For this reason I wanted to snap and post it as soon as possible as I’m sure its days are numbered. That said, the streets surrounding this plaça hold quite a few interesting images, and is most certainly worth a wander.
Opposite the cop and rat can be seen one of the side walls of the Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar, which dates back the the 14th century and deserves a few shots if you are in the area.
I saw this one on a visit to Barcelona earlier this week, thought it was quite striking. Looking on google streetview, the cop has been there since some time between October last year and January, and the rat joined him some time between January and April. And the tag on the cop’s shoulder in your pictures has been cleaned off now – interesting that the rest has been left.
I think generally the tags are the first things to go. That and any politically-charged phrases. There seems to be a little bit more tolerance for the more “artistic” ; perhaps the City council realises that there is a growing fan base for this type of art, though expecting such a common sense attitude from a city council could be too generous.
There’s also the possibility that it was sanctioned by whoever owns a neighbouring business, similar to some of the metal shutter art that can be seen around the city.
In any case, thanks for the feedback!
[…] the baby, which I had originally noted down as baby cop, has an interesting connection to another previous sighting of a law enforcement officer. The same hat appears in both. And it wasnt until just this morning […]
Do you by chance know who the artist was? I only ask as all my friends are convinced this is a picture of me!!!
Hi Steve, not sure of the artist, as it’s been a while. We’ve got quite a few good stencil artists in BCN.