Antonio Mingote Barrachina He was a very beloved character in Madrid, a language academic, a brilliant cartoonist, and a journalist writer. Born in Sitges and raised in Aragon, he arrived in Madrid in 1944. But as you know, Madrid does not ask you where you are from, if you live in Madrid, you are from Madrid. From the beginning he immersed himself in the cultural life of the city, he rubbed shoulders with writers, filmmakers, artists, everyone appreciated him, a tireless worker, his production is incredible and part of it we can see distributed throughout the city.

Today we are going to stop at a commission that he received to decorate the façade of a building in Plaza de Cristino Martos, located at number 8 Calle del Duque de Osuna, next to Plaza de los Cubos in 1993. A rich ornamentation for the balconies of the building. Different characters from Mingote, showing us different everyday situations. He was a specialist in creating these characters, some universal, others very traditional, all endearing. We can also see a plaque that pays tribute to its creator. “for teaching us life with humor and love”. These drawings have been included in the Madrid Monuments Catalog since 2007.

He died on April 3, 2012 and his chapel was installed in the gardens of Cecilio Rodríguez, in the Parque del Retiro of which he was Honorary Mayor, appointed by Enrique Tierno Galvan, in that same park where a fir tree that Mingote planted decades ago is still alive and keeping its memory alive. For 40 years he lived very close to the park and a sculpture will be installed in his honor, the work of Alicia Garcia Huertas, the project is called “Mingote Vivo”.

There are more of his works for everyone to see in Madrid and we will probably return to some of them in our 365 days in Madrid.

A abrazo.