The most famous waiter in Barcelona, Joan Bayén, left a void on Tuesday in the heart of Barcelona's most emblematic market. Known as Juanito or Pinotxo, he ran the unique Bar Pinotxo de la Boqueria until the end of last year, which has become a symbol of the city and its gastronomic ecosystem. Always wearing a bow tie and a smile, he attended his bar to faithful locals, tourists, foodies and even those who came from afar to be able to say "I was at the Pinotxo" one day. To eclipse the judicial controversy and the family conflict, several tributes will be made these days that will pay tribute to Juanito's 81 years behind the bar.
La Boqueria will be the stage where today market merchants and citizens will be able to meet to honor the character posthumously. After the funeral this afternoon at the Sancho de Ávila funeral home, the hearse with Joan Bayén's coffin will move to the gates of the market, on La Rambla, to celebrate a farewell ceremony in which his favorite song, the anthem, will be played from the city of Barcelona, from Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé.
In that tiny space occupied by the Pinotxo at stall 465 of the Boqueria, Juanito went from here to there and took care of everyone who sat at his bar. The route to the cemetery has been modified to pass in front of the market so that customers and vendors from neighboring stalls can say their last goodbye, approximately between two and three in the afternoon this Thursday. It will also be —symbolically and despite having left his post at the end of last year— Bayén's farewell to the place where he has spent most of his life.
Until Friday, the Espai Boqueria will become a memory room for Pinotxo and his establishment, with a portrait of Bayén and 88 white roses, as many as he was old. But the first signs of affection arrived yesterday. Several people came to the bar where he worked until recently, and left flowers and souvenir notes there. These details can now be taken to this space enabled by the market itself.
Bayén began working as a teenager in the bar of his mother, Catalina Pérez, who held the same position at La Boqueria and preceded Pinotxo. It was he who renamed the establishment with that name, with a special meaning. As a child he was captivated by the movie Pinocchio, which led him to nickname his dog with this name and, with which, years later, he was also known. His charm and his classic dishes, such as broad beans with baby squid or cap i pota, made him an ambassador for La Boqueria gastronomy.
The history of Bayén and its emblematic bar have deeply marked the city. The flesh and blood Pinotxo was truly passionate about his job as a waiter, which he carried out with admirable friendliness and hospitality. Bayén's steps are recounted in a book devised for his retirement, La Boqueria del Juanito (Genco Editorial), which was to be presented today —now postponed until May 3 due to the death of the restaurateur—, and which, unfortunately, the protagonist of this work will not get to see.
On May 3, the same day the book is presented, the figure of Juanito will be incorporated into the New Wax Museum of Barcelona. In this way, he will join the Maestros de la Cocina room and will share space with the most representative figures of Catalan gastronomy, such as Ferran Adrià, the Roca brothers or Carme Ruscalleda. The wax figure of Bayén was commissioned six months ago by the Association of Merchants of the Boqueria market from the British artist Michael Wade.
Juanito has left leaving a mess regarding his succession. The mess that has been accentuated with his death, after the publication on the same day of his death of a statement from his lawyers on instructions from the widow in which they express the last wishes of the waiter and regret the "mistreatment" that his relatives gave him. It is not yet known if the Pinotxo will be able to preserve the name or the essence, or the sympathy and respect with which Bayén has always treated it. But his smile and his bow tie are already eternal.
