6. From España Square to the Pilar Square
From España Square we walk into the historical city known as Tubo. This area is composed of many squares built in the 1980s and 1990s, where water is always present. At Sas Square, we find the Water Module (1989) by Manuel Arcón, which beaks traditional styles, since the fountain body, made in Markina marble, is a cubic figure that has been fragmented and emptied in different vertical and horizontal planes, following the Constructivist style. More realist in appearance is the Boy Sit Looking at the Torre Nueva, (1991), built in bronze by the sculptor Santiago Gimeno to complete a Memorial construction that has been removed, and a small fountain. But, if we stare at it, we will also see many Postmodern details such as leaves and mud, that remember how around this famous Mudejar tower a big pond was formed when it rained, represented by a big circle, and a young man made in bronze with his feet under it. In another small square and opposite to Santa Isabel Church (also named San Cayetano), we can see the charming Samaritan Fountain (1863), a sculpture made in cast iron. The beautiful samaritan woman is a Classicist work of art -a Christianized version of a pagan nymph- that empties her amphora in a container made of black stone.
Central point of this route -due to the big number of fountains and monuments- is the Pilar Square. Here we find the Fountain of the Hispanic World (1992), the Monument to Goya (1960-1992), and the popular fountains of the Kids with Fish (1975). These last ones, used by many tourists and doves to refresh themselves, are, in a certain way, heiress of a long religious tradition that links water to purification, both in Islamism, that forces the faithful to make ablutions before entering into this sacred place (also in Catholic culture), to the times of the first Christian churches. On the west side of the fountain we find another one, placed exactly at the entry to the Museum of the Forum, opposite La Seo Cathedral, the old mosque of the city. And, behind La Lonja, at Echegaray y Caballero Promenade, we can see the Monument to Lorenzo Pardo y Fuentes (1955), first director of the Hydrological Confederation of the Ebro. Its author, Dolores Franco Secorum, chose, very appropriately, to build a fountain-sculpture. Behind the bust, on a pedestal, there is a marble monolith over which water flows. The water is collected in a small pond around the monument.
