statue

Someone has stolen the statue of George Orwell in Huesca

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In the winter of 1937, George Orwell fought on the front of the Alcubierre mountain range (Huesca). Years passed and he promised: “If I ever return to Spain, I firmly promise to have a coffee in Huesca.” The same Orwell who fought in the trenches and bled on the Aragonese front, the writer of ‘Homage to Catalonia’, never drank that damn coffee because he died before. Eighty years later, Huesca served him the cup with a tribute: a bronze bas-relief raised in the Miguel Servet park. It didn’t last long. Early Thursday morning, a week ago, the bronze disappeared. They tore it from its pedestal and only the sandstone remains. It’s been a week and it still doesn’t show up. One of the most beautiful tributes has been desecrated to the father of the great dystopias, from ‘Animal Farm’ (1945) and ‘1984’ (1949). Because this is a robbery of collective memory. The historian Víctor Pardo defines it harshly, as “an absolutely despicable and condemnable act.” Together with the Orwell Society, they mobilized the social bases, got the money and raised 15,000 euros, with bonuses and shares of 10 euros. More than 500 people contributed and made the proposal a reality. This was just two years ago. The sculpture only cost about 8,000 euros but, in total, about 25,000 were raised. So the surplus was used to build commemorative plaques and other efforts. They commissioned it at the end of 2023. On May 19, 2024, it was inaugurated and now no one knows where it is. Who has it been? When writing against tyrannies and authoritarianisms, anyone might think that this is a political robbery. The Orwell Society, as a literary society and charity registered in the United Kingdom since 2011, claims to have no political affiliation. The latest local reading It was organized in the Castle of Montearagónnear the place where George Orwell was wounded. However, there is no claim from extremist groups. After all, we are talking about an anarchist. That’s why Pardo has nipped speculation in the bud: the motive for the crime smells like pure junk, a theft that seeks to be sold by weight: bronze is paid for at 6 euros per kg and 120 kg is more than 700 euros for free. A handful of dirty bills at some junkyard sale in some suburban junkyard. A warm relationship in a cold winter. Orwell set foot in Huesca in 1937, with an Aragonese winter that froze the bones of the militiamen. Fascist bullets whistled from the enemy trenches and the rebellious side controlled the city. POUM volunteers surrounded the perimeter and Orwell watched the domes from afar. He dreamed of final victory and having hot coffee, a very simple wish. The Francoist bullet pierced his neck weeks later and he almost bled to death. He survived by pure miracle. He left Spain months late, narrowly fleeing his own supposed Soviet comrades. So the monument represented an enormous civil triumph. The work of Javier Sauras was nestled in the green lung of the Aragonese city with great affection. “It is stealing a bronze sculpture that represents a historical figure from the universal literature of the 20th century (…). It is robbing the citizens of Huesca of an artistic and heritage work,” bellows Víctor Pardo, who complains of a certain institutional apathy. Scrap and silence. The work, which belongs to the municipal heritage – that is, the citizens gave it to the City Council after paying for it out of their own pockets – has not been pursued either. No one has issued announcements and the City Council filed a simple routine complaint at the police station. The Citizen Collective found out by chance and no one issued an apology to Sauras or Orwell’s family. The son, Richard Blair, who applauded excitedly at the inauguration alongside Quentin Kopp, president of the association, has not received news from the “Ministry of Truth.” Like the almost two-ton sculpture of Eduardo Chillida – stolen in Getafe, They ended up selling it for just 30 euros in a scrapyard in San Martín de la Vega to be melted, the fate of Orwell’s plate does not seem to aspire to a good ending. And it would be a real shame if Orwell’s melancholy face died definitively under a miserable scrap metal blowtorch, honestly. Images | DiscoverHuesca In Xataka | A Millennium Falcon next to a 17th century staff: an occupied house uncovers the stolen treasure in La Rioja

build the tallest statue of Jesus in the world

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If by chance you travel to Zovunia village in Kotayk, Armenia, you are likely to get one of those surprises that make you wonder if you are really in the middle of a dream. On the outskirts of the town, behind a metal fence, stands a huge figure of Christ of furious white. Although to be more precise, it is correct to say that what stands is only the trunk of the statue. Its other two sections are distributed throughout the same neighborhood, like pieces on a board. The picture is so strange that the aerial photos of the area seem generated by AI. However, it is about something else: the dream of an Armenian megalomaniac determined to raise the statue of Jesus Christ largest on the planet. One name: Gagik Tsarukyan. There are many ways to pass on to posterity. The Armenian Gagik Tsarukyan (69 years old) has it guaranteed by his status as a former athlete (he was world arm wrestling champion in the 90s), wealthy businessman and politician. However, he has decided that he wants to be remembered for another achievement: having erected the largest statue of Jesus in Armenia… and on the planet. What Tsarukyan has in mind is neither more nor less than erecting a huge sculpture of Jesus of 77.5 meters on top of Mount Hatis, in Kotayk. If the pedestal is added, the monument will total around 101 meters high. A new icon. Beyond its dimensions, the project draws attention for its symbolism and pretensions. Tsarukyan not only wants to erect a statue of Christ that surpasses the famous one in height ‘Christ the Redeemer’ from Rio de Janeiro (38 m) or the ‘Christ the King’ of Poland, which in 2010 was awarded the title of “tallest statue of Jesus Christ” by Guinness World Records. The Armenian magnate has proposed erecting his sculpture in a special place: in Hatis, on top of a 2,500 m mountain overlooking Yerevan and protected for its biodiversity and heritage. More than just an idea. The interesting thing about the project is that it is not just a more or less ambitious idea captured on paper or a handful of renders. As anyone who visits Zovuni can see, the sculpture is already well underway. Its authors have made of aluminum and divided into three sections to facilitate its assembly on the enormous pedestal that will rise in Hatis. Does a few months Reporters from Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty (RFE) visited the area and saw how the work on the base was progressing on the mountain while the three sections of the metal statue, already completed and awaiting assembly, appear behind the fence of a Zovuni workshop. The image is so surreal that it attracts curious people and some local guides have included it in their itinerary for tourists. How will those segments be moved to the top of Hatis? Some sources speak of a helicopter. Others point out that the final solution will be more orthodox and the pieces will be loaded in a truck. The oligarch Gagik Tsarukyan. With controversy included. That the work is advanced is explained by a very simple reason: the project is not exactly new. Tsarukyan announced it in 2022 and, at least initially, it seemed to convince the authorities, who saw in it a private initiative that could attract visitors to the country. In the summer of that same year (2022) the tycoon celebrated a ceremony of laying the first stone in Hatis, an event attended by the Minister of Economy. Shortly after, the project was marred, however, by the “irreversible damage” which, supposedly, caused to an ancient fortress in the area. Goal: 2027. That episode brought cold water to Tsarukyan’s plans, as he saw his project paralyzed for months. To save it, the magnate agreed to relocate the pedestal and move it several hundred meters. Thanks to this change, he once again received the green light from the Armenian authorities and continued with the foundation of the base, which was reactivated in September 2025. Photos taken on site by RFE/RL in March confirm that work is progressing with the goal of the monument being completed as early as 2027. The three sections of the statue wait while outdoors, in Zovuni. @armenianexplorer Armenian businessman Gagik Tsarukyan has funded the construction of what will be the world’s tallest statue of Jesus, standing at 33 meters on a 44-meter pedestal. This impressive structure will be installed atop Mount Hatis, at an elevation of 2,528 meters. The statue is already completed, with the architectural design crafted by Armen Samvelyan. ——— #Armenia #ArmenianExplorer #JesusStatue ♬ original sound – Armenian Explorer “He does not consider it acceptable”. Tsarukyan’s project does not quite convince the environmentalists and the Monument Watch organization has raised his voice also to warn of “the destruction” of Mount Hatis that “is carried out with the approval and permission of the Armenian authorities.” There is another institution that also has shown his suspicionalthough for different reasons: the Church. Although supporters of the mega sculpture hope it will attract visitors to Armenia and activate religious tourism, the Armenian Apostolic Church warns that the monument does not quite fit with the religious and architectural heritage of the country. In fact, he made his position very clear in a statement launched shortly after the project was presented, in 2022: “The Church does not consider it acceptable.” This is not a simple aesthetic objection. Armenian tradition reject the statues of Jesus Christ because they are considered idols. His faith is expressed above all through other figures: the Khachkarcarved stone crosses. RFERL remember that the few statues of Christ in the country have ended up vandalized. Matter what… and who. The truth is that Tsarukyan is just as (or even more) striking than his project. Armwrestling champion, boxing fan and rich man, Tsarukyan has also tried his luck in politics. without much luck. In the last elections his party, Prosperous Armenia, nationalist and pro-Russian, did not obtain … Read more

If anyone thought that no one was going to want the statue of a 300 meter bull in Spain, it is because they know very little about Spain.

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in summer we count the beginning of something that was difficult to catalog. The Spanish Academy of Bullfighting launched the proposal to build a monumental sculpture of none other than 300 meters in the shape of a bulla statue that aspired to become a tourist and cultural icon comparable to structures such as the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty, taking as its hallmark a symbol historically associated with Spanish imagery. If there was any doubt about the reception, there are already cities giving everything for “their” bull. A symbol. What we know: that the project foresees an open metal structure, of a modular type, with viewing points on the horns and a commercial and cultural complex at its base, financed with private capital but conditional on the receiving municipality giving up a large plot of land (at least 650 meters long) and assume urban integration and permits. Although the idea started as a sectoral initiative aimed at reinforcing the public presence of bullfighting, the mere announcement, of course, has generated opposite reactions: while for some it is an opportunity for international projection and an economic claim, for others it is an aesthetic and ethical provocation that aims to whitewash a controversial practice with art. The race begins. At this time we know something else: there are “cakes” to be obtained monster. After the initial rejection of Madrid, Castilla y León has taken advantage by concentrating the majority of the candidates and placing Peñafiel and Valle de Valdebezana in an advanced phase by having delivered specific location plans, which places them ahead of other municipalities that have only expressed political will without proving technical feasibility. Peñafiel, with a deep-rooted bullfighting tradition and an urban environment that already has the Plaza del Coso as a singular element, it has claimed to have a “privileged” location that would meet the requirements and that could also be provided with complementary services in the future, avoiding the need for provincial or regional support by having a PGOU that allows it to grant licenses on its own. Extra ball. The Academy demands, as a next step, the higher institutional support except in those cases in which municipal planning allows acting without this filter, which has redoubled the interest of competing municipalities in ensuring their administrative legitimacy as soon as possible. The economic argument. The promoters defend that the structure would be a tourist attraction engine capable of activating commerce, employment and notoriety for the host town, especially in territories of inland Spain with problems of visibility and population flight. It is proposed that the monument would act not only as a visitor attraction, but also as a consumption anchor in its immediate surroundings thanks to restaurants, shops and thematic cultural programming that would allow the tourist flow to leave local income and prolong the stay in the destination. Hence municipalities like Peñafiel or interested towns in Zamora and Salamanca see this option as a way to complement or reorient their tourist offer beyond seasonal campaigns or specific events, without direct budgetary cost if the bulk of the investment ultimately remains in private hands as the promoters promise. What people say. The initiative is not exempt from rejection: Opposition public officials consider it extravagant, disproportionate and out of context, while animal rights groups and critics of bullfighting denounce that the sculpture constitutes a symbolic glorification of a practice associated with animal suffering, disguised as monumental art and intended to provoke rather than unite. This front further argues that the scale distorts the landscapeimplies extreme visual impact and transfers to the public space an identity icon that does not have social consensus, which would turn the monument into a permanent focus of dispute. The tension between both narratives (territorial revitalization vs. symbolic imposition) has already accompanied the project since its embryonic phase, anticipating a debate that could intensify if the choice of headquarters crystallizes in a specific location. Peñafiel one step ahead. Thus, Peñafiel is currently positioned as one of the more serious candidates by having that bullfighting tradition, explicit political will and apparent urban planning capacity to house such a structure, to which is added the identity argument of being able to go from being known for its unique Plaza del Coso to hosting what would be the greatest architectural symbol of modern bullfighting. Meanwhile, local authorities recognize the magnitude of the challenge logistical and anticipate a long process, although they consider that the reputational and economic return would justify the bet. The Bullfighting Academy continue evaluating plans, accessibility, impact and viability, while other localities finalize institutional support to avoid losing position. The project thus enters a decisive phase in which vision, land, permits, social legitimacy and strategic impact are confronted before a destination is selected for an object that, not yet built, already produces political, aesthetic and cultural effects. Image | Spanish Academy of Bullfighting In Xataka | Someone thought it was a great idea to propose a sculpture of a bull over 300 meters high. There are already cities waiting to welcome it In Xataka | The “cayetans” are going to make noise in the squares. And it’s not just because of the love of bullfighting.

People have started rowing to touch their ass to the statue of the bear in Madrid. Makes as little sense as it seems

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Recently Dublin’s City Council did something unusual: He put an escort To the statue of a woman to prevent tourists from groking her breasts. Before the Irish session had even thought about Raise the monumentdedicated to Molly Maloneto leave his generous bronze bust (discolored after years and years of touch) out of reach of the caresses of the visitors. Molly Malone’s is not a unique case. If you approach the door of the Sun, in the heart of Madrid, you can also check how the celebration Bear and madroño statue That decorates the square for almost 60 years has the innkeepers and a leg of gold color for the constant of tourists and neighbors. A two -colored bear. Few more emblematic places in Madrid than Puerta del Sol. And few more iconic points in the square (and the city in general) than the famous Bear and madroño statuea work by sculptor Antonio Navarro that decorates the area since January 1967, although since then it has already changed several times of location. If today you approach to see it, it is likely, however, two details that are relatively recent. To start it is likely to meet tourists queuing to take photos next to the Úrsido. If you look, you will also see that the animal is two colors. Most have a dark tone, but one of the legs and tail are somewhat clearer, almost golden. Actually both details are related. If the animal has “faded” it is largely because of the touch of visitors. @koda_009 If you are in Madrid or visit the city, you cannot go without touching the sculpture of the bear and the madroño at the Puerta del Sol. The monument is one of the most important symbols of the capital and, according to the belief, in addition to bringing luck, touching it also guarantees to return to the city. #Elosoyelmadroño #Madrid #Spain #Puertadelsol #Europe #Sabiasque? #Sabiasque #comunidaddeMadrid #SPain #for you #Solmadrid ♬ Original sound – Koda Is it a matter of good luck? The legend says to touch Malone’s breasts Bring good luckbut … why do people grocery the tail and the leg of the bear of the door of the Sun? Basically for the same. A quick search in networks reveals that there are people who believe What to reach the tail will bring you good luck and will help him return to Madrid. Other versions ensure that what you have to touch the bear is actually the heel or that the objective changes According to the origin Who is sovere to: If you are from Madrid you must go to the tail, if you are a visitor you have to touch the leg. A matter of superstition, as is the case with the statue of Malone or other sobbed sculptures, such as The porcellino from Florence, which also has the polished snout based on the handle of tourists, or The testicles of the famous Toro of Wall Street. There are even more rocambolescas legends, such as the one that argues that those women who deliver a flower, kiss and touch the penis of The Victor Noir statuein a cemetery in Paris, they will enjoy love and sex. THE KEY: IMITATION. Superstitions apart, the explanation of why people caresses sculptures is much simpler (and mundane). At least in the case of the Madrid bear. The key was given in 2023 Madrid_Secreto in Tiktok: people feel the impulse to play statues and over time that ends up leaving a mark on the surface of the monuments that attracts the attention of more and more people. Result: the habit grows and feeds up until it becomes tradition. The equation is completed with the best Selfiethe desire to return on vacation with iconic photos and the amplifier effect of the networks. @vanessaencinals Well I don’t reach but it’s my fourth time in Madrid 😂❤️ #fyp #Madrid #vacations #SPain #Osomadrileño #Granvia #Puertadelsol ♬ You can count on me. Amaia Montero. LODVG – Video Covers “I’ve seen it in Tiktok”. The million dollar question in the case of the Statue of Puerta del Sol is … who was the first to touch the sculpture? When did that derive in a tradition? And how has it expanded so fast? Recently eldiario.es He approached To the square to talk to tourists and even a guide and discovered several things. To begin with, the handle of the Úrsido seems to have started a few years ago, at least before the pandemic. The historian José Manuel Moreno, in fact, points out that “it is not a new fashion” and points out that there are other sculptures that are also a victim of the touch, such as The curious neighborlocated on the main street with Almudena. People touch their ass in search of the same: fortune. Another of the conclusions that are taken when talking to people who approach the statue to touch it is that, although the habit of the handle perhaps comes from years ago, it has expanded basically thanks to social networks. “I’ve seen it on Tiktok,” Recognize A young woman from Jaén. And the truth is that a quick search arrives for find A handful of videos in which people are seen playing sculpture and talking about their supposed effects to return to Madrid or have luck. Touch statues? That is the million dollar question. Is it okay to touch statues installed in public spaces, even to the point that your patina is affected? Should institutions avoid it? In the case of the Malone statue, the Dublinous authorities are clear, although it is true that in their case influenced that tourists focus (with jokes included) on the bust of the figure. “I don’t like it and put limits … wherever it can truly be a problem. But of course, it’s hard to define,” Moreno admits. In the specific case of Navarro’s sculpture, one of the factors that could have influenced the touching is The last reform of the environment, which banks … Read more

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