for the Spain they believed to be better: in Barcelona

in Barcelona, Monument fo Francesc Macià by Josep Maria Subirachs According to the website barcelonalowdown ”Francesc Macià i Llussà was the first President of the Generalitat de Catalunya and held office from 1932 until his death in 1933. Born in September 1859, Macià grew up in Vilanova i la Geltrú -a medium sized town approximately 50 kilometres south of Barcelona- . After a spell in the Spanish army, he fought for Catalan independence and formed the political party Estat Català which later merged with other pro-independence groups to form Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya -Republican Left Wing of Catalonia-. In 1931 the ERC won local elections and proclaimed the Catalan Republic. Three days later the Catalan Republic was restructured as the Generalitat de Catalunya  -Government of the autonomous region of Catalonia- with Francesc Macià as president and the statute was drawn up." The Monument to Francesc Macià in Plaça Catalunya (Barcelona) is the work of Josep Maria Subirachs (1927-2014) and was inaugurated in 1991. According to the website http://www.subirachs.cat/ “The monument to Francesc Macià is situated at the south end of Plaça de Catalunya, in the diagonal stretch between Passeig de Gràcia and La Rambla, and leans towards the corner with the Rambla de Canaletes. The part of the sculpture that emerges from the ground is made of travertine stone and represents the history of Catalonia. It is formed by staggered blocks of different sizes. On the front face, the texture of which is very marked, we can read characters' names, dates and places related to the career of Francesc Macià, engravings placed informally in a grafitti style, and over this face is found the dedication: 'Catalonia to Francesc Macià' (translation from original Catalan). At the summit three steps are formed that symbolise the three years during which Macià chaired the Generalitat. The words that he pronounced on December 14, 1932, to the parliament are engraved on the rear section: 'This is how you have to want Catalonia, as I have promised to the people so many times: politically free, socially just, economically prosperous and spiritually glorious' (Translation from original Catalan). The concrete form symbolises the country, which supported by the work of the first president of the modern Generalitat, moves upward, rung to rung, towards the future. The unfinished end suggests that Catalonia remains alive and continues to built on itself day by day. In the rear part, suspended in the concrete, is the coat of arms of Catalonia, set in iron. On the front is the portrait of Macià in bronze, a replica of the portrait by Josep Clarà in 1932. Subirachs himself made the enlargement, since the master copy, owned by Maria Macià, daughter of the president, is of a smaller format. Subirachs wanted to include this bust as a document of the period and also to tie it in with the nineteenth century style of the square, designed by the architect Francesc de P. Nebot in 1924. Subirachs wanted this monument to convey a great sobriety (a noteworthy characteristic of Catalan art) and at the same time give it an epic tone, since it is meant to commemorate the figure of one of the most charismatic politicians in the history of Catalonia.” These photos were taken in December 2019 and show the Monument fo Francesc Macià and the sculpture "La Diosa" made by Josep Clarà i Ayats (1878–1958).