The Zoo That Escaped into the Streets

Barcelona keeps animals in places where nobody needs to feed them. A giraffe poses on Rambla de Catalunya, a bull sits down to think, a huge cat settles into the Raval, a dragon sells umbrellas, a smiling crustacean survives the restaurant it once advertised and a fish grows large enough to become part of the Olympic skyline. This six-stop walk is an urban bestiary built from documented public art and architecture. At every stop, the useful question is the same: why did this creature end up here, and what job was the city asking it to do?