STATUE OF THE BEAR AND THE ARBUTUS TREE
Like everyone else, they are in a hurry to take a souvenir photo of their time in Madrid. It's one of the symbols of the city.
El Oso y el Madroño, an emblematic statue of the city of Madrid, has been returned to its original location after the long work on the plaza. In fact it was at the beginning of calle del Carmen from 1986 during... Twenty-three years! It has therefore regained its place, at the beginning of Calle Alcala, in 2009.
Its two protagonists, the bear and the arbutus tree, remind us that in the past, large areas of arbutus trees populated by bears and other game surrounded the capital. Legend has it that it was to pay homage to King Alfonso XI, who killed a bear on the outskirts of Madrid, that the animal was incorporated into the city's coat of arms. Then the arbutus tree would have appeared between the 13th and 14th centuries after the Church ceded back to the city pastures and wooded areas on the outskirts of Madrid. A way to celebrate and seal this historic agreement.
It then became one of the symbols of the city. While it is obviously present on the flag and coat of arms of the capital, it can also be found on the crest of the Atletico de Madrid football club, for example. This work by the Spanish architect Antonio Navarro Santafé was inaugurated in 1967. It is 4 metres high (counting its cubic granite pedestal), made of stone and bronze and weighs about 20 tons. And when you set foot on the Puerta del Sol for the first time, one thing quickly becomes clear: he is the most photographed star in the city.
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