The recent installation of traffic lights with the figures of Mortadel·lo and Filemó next to the Gabriel García Márquez library, in the Sant Martí district, and at the heavily trafficked intersection of Ronda Sant Pere with Passeig de Gràcia, in the Eixample , has been a resounding success to which Barcelona City Council has given continuity. Comic lovers and nostalgic for the legendary agents of the TIA, created by Francisco Ibáñez, have since yesterday a new point in Barcelona where they can pay tribute to these characters. It is the intersection of Manso and Comte d’Urgell streets, in the Sant Antoni district, where the third traffic light in the series has been located.
The location chosen responds to the proximity to the Sunday book, magazine and trading card market in Sant Antoni and, as in the two previous cases, the initiative adds further recognition to the beloved figure of Francisco Ibáñez and his work.
The premiere of the new traffic light was enlivened by a party with devils and other manifestations of traditional and popular culture in which relatives and friends of Ibáñez participated as well as professional colleagues of the cartoonist who died on July 15 last year. The location next to the Sant Antoni market is part of the initiative of the SOM Sant Antoni organization and the Plataforma de la Llosa de la Ronda de Sant Antoni.
The idea of installing traffic lights with the silhouettes of Mortadel·lo and Filemó came from Navarrese teacher Francisco Javier Ibáñez and from the first moment it was well received. Each traffic light shows the figure of Filemó in the red light and Mortadel·lo in the green. It is equipped with sound devices for blind people.
