The recent installation of two traffic lights with the figures of Mortadelo and Filemón next to the Gabriel García Márquez library, in the Sant Martí district, and at the busy intersection of Ronda Sant Pere and Passeig de Gràcia, in Eixample, has been a resounding success that Barcelona City Council has continued. Comic lovers and nostalgic for the mythical TIA agents created by Francisco Ibáñez, have from this afternoon a new point in Barcelona where they can pay tribute to these characters. This is the intersection of Manso and Comte d’Urgell streets, in the Sant Antoni neighborhood, where the third traffic light in the series has been located.
The chosen location responds to the proximity to the Sant Antoni Sunday market for books, magazines and stickers 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 has been enlivened by a party with devils and other manifestations of traditional and popular culture in which family and friends of Ibáñez as well as professional colleagues of the cartoonist who died on July 15 of last year have participated. The location next to the Sant Antoni market arises from the initiative of the SOM Sant Antoni entity and the Llosa de la Ronda de Sant Antoni Platform.
The idea of ??installing traffic lights with the silhouettes of Mortadelo and Filemón came from Navarrese professor Francisco Javier Ibáñez and from the first moment it found an excellent reception. Each traffic light shows the figure of Filemón on the red light and Mortadelo on the green one. It is equipped with sound devices for blind people.
