The photograph captures with eloquence and emotion the atmosphere that reigned on the Rambla during the inauguration of the monument to Pitarra. Its public, so popular and devoted, surrounds the enormous sculptural work and overflows such a large space. The procession had gathered at the Palace of Belles Arts and the route, decorated with flags and hangings, became a formidable spectacle from the beginning as it only grew larger as it passed.
It was noon on Sant Esteve in 1906. A rather slow process thus culminated.
Serafí Pitarra (Frederic Soler) had been buried in 1895 in the same tomb of the musician Josep Anselm Clavé. The following year the agreement to dedicate a monument to him was made official. The first stone was laid in 1897. It had been decided that it would be by public subscription, and in order to make it affordable for all budgets, donations starting at 25 cents were accepted, such was the certainty of its effective roots in the town. flat. Collection sessions were also held at the Romea, Lírico, Principal theaters and other stages.
The monument was commissioned to the architect Pere Falqués and the sculptor Agustí Querol.
No one disputed that the title founder had been dedicated to him on the pedestal, despite it not being exact. Instead, the controversy focused on the sculptural work, which was not liked, perhaps because of such scenographic and grandiloquent modernism. The new lamp posts that Falqués had just planted on Passeig de Gràcia were ridiculed by the satirical press and its ninotaires.
The location chosen was a success, since such a comfortable, busy and colorful space fit the profile of the character.
It is still curious that one bad day the City Council decided to install a urinal on the ground floor of such a noble place. There were no protests. Only the family requested that if this affront continued, they would request the transfer. In 1935 he was on the verge of being sent to Montjuïc. Fortunately he didn't catch on.
When a descendant was buried in 1963, the abandonment of the Cementiri Vell grave was discovered. And fortunately, the respectful initiative to move Pitarra's remains, which had just been collected in a bundle, to his own grave in the Cementiri Nou, took shape.
