Madrid looks at itself in a bronze bear. Since 1967, this Antonio Navarro Santafé piece has held the daily appointment between the city and its oldest emblem.
Figures
One piece, four facts.
Next chapter
Madrid, read from the statue.
Four readings from the statue: what to see nearby, the walking routes, where to stop for a bite, and what to photograph.
Being there
A daily appointment, at zero point.
Sol is a clock, a paved square, and an orientation system for half of Spain. The bear and the strawberry tree stand at its zero point — where all of Madrid passes through, sooner or later.
Memory
The symbol before the statue.
Before the bronze, the bear and the strawberry tree were already side by side in the medieval coat of arms of the town. The 1967 statue invents nothing: it lifts the symbol and places it in the exact centre of the city.
«A bronze bear leans towards the strawberry tree, at the very threshold of Madrid.»
— A reading of the monument
In the square
Three details that matter.
The bronze reads at close range; the whole scene reads from three metres back. Walk around the pedestal before pressing the shutter — the bear changes with the angle and the light.
Sol connects Metro, Cercanías, and the main pedestrian axes of the centre. Three metro entrances converge within a minute of the monument.
From the pedestal you can line up the clock of the Real Casa de Correos, the Kilometre Zero plaque, and the entrance to Calle Mayor.
Resources
Three official sources to extend what the bear only hints at.
