The traffic light of Mortadelo and Filemón will soon be a reality. The mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, called the Navarrese professor who promoted the initiative this Thursday to confirm that the Catalan capital will carry out his original proposal in homage to cartoonist Francisco Ibáñez.
“We have been talking for a long time and he has thanked me for the idea. He says that, although this is not the usual procedure, the consistory has welcomed the project and has passed it on to the technical services for its development and location", Francisco Javier Ibáñez explained to La Vanguardia who, despite the coincidence in the last name, is not related to the Catalan artist.
Municipal sources confirm to this newspaper both the call and the intention for the project to be carried out. "Its possible location is being studied."
Thousands of users have spent days proposing on networks some emblematic places related to Ibáñez, such as the former headquarters of the Bruguera publishing house, on Aldea street, or different points in the Sant Martí district, where the cartoonist lived. There is what is considered the best public library in the world, the Gabriel García Márquez, which assures that “we want the traffic lights in front of the library to be regulated by Mortadelo and Filemón”. In fact, the center has a space dedicated to the master of humor. "I have insisted that it be located there, but it is not up to me," confesses the professor.
Throughout this week, personalities from the world of culture, such as the actor Octavi Pujades, the writer Rosa Ribas or the playwright Jordi Galcerán positioned themselves in favor of this proposal. “It would be a tribute to him and to the generations of his fans. It would even be a tourist attraction”, recognized the filmmaker Santiago Segura.
The idea came from the mind of this teacher during his vacation in Denmark. “In the city of Aarhus there are some very nice Viking traffic lights that honor their ancestors. Seeing them, I thought it would make all the sense in the world to transfer this idea to Barcelona with Ibáñez. Philemon, who always grumbles, is the one who gives orders, so he would be the red one. And Mortadelo, the green one, walking quietly. I do not rule out that there are those who choose to go through that crossing before another. Surely he does it with a smile, ”he points out.
With the affirmative response of the consistory, Ibáñez joins other famous people who have their own traffic light, such as Elvis Presley, in the German city of Friedberg, since he did his military service there; or Chiquito de la Calzada, in the Malaga neighborhood of Huelín. “I hope this is one of many well-deserved tributes to the great Ibáñez. His readers have been encouraged by other ideas, such as renaming a street or even the Sants station. Mine is a simple proposal but I think endearing and showy, since you have to see a traffic light yes or yes to cross”.
The City Council recalls that the city's Gold Medal for Cultural Merit will also be awarded posthumously to his relatives, a recognition that was announced last February for his "tireless and intense creative career as a benchmark in the world of humor and the comedian in our country”.
