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 devout, surrounds the enormous sculptural work and overflows such a large space. The entourage had gathered at the Palace of Fine Arts and the route, adorned with flags and tambourines, turned from the very beginning into a formidable spectacle, as it only got thicker as it went.
It was midday on St. Stephen’s Day 1906. It culminated a rather slow process.
Serafí Pitarra (Frederic Soler) had been buried in 1895 in the same tomb as the musician Josep Anselm Clavé. The following year, the agreement to dedicate a monument to him became official. The first stone was laid in 1897. It had been decided that it would be by public subscription and, in order for it to be within the reach of all pockets, donations were accepted from 25 cents; such was the certainty of its effective rooting in the plain people. Collection sessions were also held at the Romea, Lírico, Principal and other venues.
The monument was commissioned to the architect Pere Falqués and the sculptor Agustí Querol.
No one disputed that the plinth had been given the title of founder, despite the fact that it was not accurate. Instead, the controversy focused on the sculptural work, which was not liked, perhaps because of such scenographic and grandiloquent modernism. The new lampposts that Falqués had just planted on Paseo de Gràcia were ridiculed by the satirical press and its puppeteers.
The place chosen was a success, given that such a relaxed, busy and colorful space fit the character’s profile.
It is still curious that one bad day the City Council decided to install a urinal in the basement of such a noble place. There were no protests. Only the family asked that if that affront continued they would ask for the transfer. In 1935 he was about to be sent to Montjuïc. Fortunately, it did not take root.
Since he was buried in 1963, a descendant discovered the neglect in which that grave in the Old Cemetery was. And fortunately, the respectful initiative to move Pitarra’s remains, which had just been collected in a bundle, took root then, to his own grave in the New Cemetery.
