1960s mosaic on the facade of a former Renault car dealership — Spain's most idiosyncratic public art
An 80-metre-long mosaic running the length of an otherwise unremarkable 1960s apartment block on Carrer de Pere Martell, a five-minute walk south-west of the Rambla Nova. The mosaic depicts the evolution of transport — running horses, locomotives, vintage cars, biplanes — in cheerful mid-century-Catalan style, with thousands of small coloured tiles forming an exuberant frieze along the entire facade.
A perfect five-minute stop for visitors who enjoy quirky public art. The building is private but the mosaic is fully visible from the street. Best photographed in late afternoon when the western sun lights it up.
A story
Santiago Padrós was a Catalan mosaic artist working in Tarragona in the post-war period. In the 1960s the local Renault dealership commissioned him to decorate the exterior of their new showroom on Carrer de Pere Martell — Padrós produced an 80-metre-long mosaic showing the history of transport, from horse-drawn carriages and steam locomotives through to early automobiles and aircraft. The dealership closed in the 1990s but the mosaic has been preserved and the building is now a heritage-listed apartment block.