Barcelona is once again showing off the four columns by Puig i Cadafalch that were put up in 1919 where Montjuïc’s Magic Fountain now stands. These four columns were an allegory of the four stripes of the Catalan flag, and they were pulled down in 1928 by Primo de Rivera.

Although the columns aren’t exactly the same, nor are they in exactly the same spot (this time they’re 1 metre shorter than the 20 metres the originals measured, and they stand just behind the fountain), a skyline recovered from the past gives the city back an air of splendour.

Puig i Cadafalch's columns, Montjuïc

Putting them back has stirred up more than one controversy, some from an architectural point of view (they block the view of the Palau Nacional) and others from an economic one (the project seems to have cost around €2 million).

Personally, I love it when part of the city’s history is recovered, and I love being able to see the space looking the way it did 92 years ago.

What never ceases to amaze me is that the City Council wants to bring back things from the past while, at the same time, it’s knocking down historic places like the Provença fire station (which has already been almost completely flattened) and the Colònia Castells, among other relics from the early 20th century.