El Mussol (The Owl), Avinguda Diagonal, 372, Plaça de Mossèn Jacint Verdaguer, Barcelona, 2021
How Did A Giant Owl Get Up There?
The semi-famous “Barcelona Owl” was, at one time, the unique logo of an advertising and neon sign company called Rótulos Roura (rótulos, in Castellano/Spanish, can mean labels, logos, or small signs…). The Owl was erected by the firm in the 1960s and, according to blogger Emily Benson:
“At night, its hundreds of light bulbs and its large yellow eyes would light up and perform an elaborate choreography. Its eyes would blink, move in circles and do a hypnotic spiral dance to try to captivate the gaze of anyone who might be in the area; it would even wink from time to time.”
Quite the marketing and advertising coup, I’d say, since “The Owl” has become almost as beloved as some of the more classic Barcelona structures like La Pedrera and La Sagrada Familia, albeit with a much different, hip/vintage style.
In the 1990s, the City shut down the brilliantly illuminated sign due to light pollution regulations, but it has come back due to popular demand, refitted today with modern LED lights.
For more fun details, I would recommend you peruse Emily Benson’s short article, The Barcelona Owl That Defies Both Adversity and Time (October 25, 2020).
A Photography Side Note
I was in this area of the city to photograph the 19th century ruins that had been uncovered during some road improvement work on the Avinguda Diagonal (See my previous blog post, Archaeological Find In Barcelona City Center, April 16, 2021). I had no plan to photograph “The Owl”, but there it was, perched high above, giving me the hairy eyeball look and demanding a portrait session…
So I wandered over to the base of the building, composed and captured a few frames… and, as it turned out, this was the best image I made all day.
Moral: No matter what specific photographic objective you might have, don’t channelize your attention. Be open to any chance opportunities which may arise.
Happy shooting!
You might also like
Leave a reply