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Thousands of years after its construction, the Segovia (Central Region of Spain) aqueduct remains an inexhaustible source of information. This time, because of its legend: according to a popular history, the famous structure was not erected by the Romans, but by Mephistopheles himself, who would have been deceived by a young Segovian to build it in one night only. To spread this story to the more than 800,000 tourists who visit Segovia each year, the city has decided to install the figure of the little devil in one of the many points of view of the aqueduct.
The sculpture depicts a six-foot-tall, smiling devil holding a cell phone with one hand and taking out a selfie . The work was mainly designed to attract tourists, making fun of their desire to publish new photos on social networks. But the installation of the statue in the street of San Juan will have to wait for the 1st. The purpose of the statue is mainly to diversify the tourist flow in a city that receives a lot of tourists, visitors, but concentrated around a few streets of the historic center. "If the sculpture works, there will be more people in the area of the north wall, which is also very important for Segovia, but less visited than the surroundings of the aqueduct", explains Claudia de Santos, heritage secretary historic city, which has about 100 people. kilometers north of Madrid. But the origin of the little devil has nothing to do with any practical consideration: his inspiration comes from a visit to Germany.
"It all started with a trip to Lübeck, and there is also a local legend of cheating the devil to build a church.When I saw the little character they had placed in tribute, I thought "What a great idea to export it to Segovia," says José Antonio Abella, who created and donated the controversial statue. A sculptor and writer, this retired rural doctor was born in Burgos 63 years ago, but considers himself a Segovian by adoption. He is surprised by the noise that surrounds his creation: "I do not understand anything."
Two Ségoviennes, Marta Xerez and Esther Lázaro, founded the Association San Miguel and San Frutos for the sole purpose of trying to do everything what was in their power to make me. avoid the installation of the statue. According to his manifesto on change.org, which has collected more than 5,000 signatures, the little devil is "offensive to Catholics because it represents an exaltation of evil". In addition, the badociation says that its smiling aspect aggravates things, because "the devil is represented alone, giving him all the protagonism, without being next to a church, nor in any other environment reflecting the rejection of this character" .
For Secretary Santos, the badociation represents only "a few people who speak with a lot of emphasis". But she promises that the project will be maintained, despite the situation that she considers "unfair and gloomy". "It does not tell me anything that can happen in Spain in the 21st century," he laments, remembering that the badociation that opposed the installation of the statue s & # 39; He even worried about "Segovia becoming a center of satanic worship". "It's crazy," says sculptor Abella. He notes that this chubby Mephistopheles should be installed next to the former headquarters of the Inquisition in this Spanish city. "It seems that the inquisitors never left this country completely," he concluded ironically.
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