Mort and Phil help control pedestrian crossing in Eixample
As of today, one of the busiest pedestrian crossings in the Eixample district is home to two very special characters. New pedestrian signals featuring Mort and Phil, the iconic T.I.A. agents created by Francisco Ibáñez, have been installed at the intersection of Ronda de Sant Pere and Passeig de Gràcia, one of the corners of Plaça de Catalunya.
A pair of pedestrian signals were installed on Wednesday afternoon at this pedestrian crossing in the Eixample district. The green “walk” lights are in the shape of Mort, and the red “don’t walk” lights are in the shape of Phil. The signals at the intersection of Carrer del Treball and Carrer del Concili de Trento, next to the Gabriel García Márquez Library in the Sant Martí neighbourhood, were unveiled in October.
The initiative was proposed by Francisco Javier Ibáñez, a professor from Navarre, as a tribute to the creator of these famous comic strip characters. The proposal was welcomed by Barcelona City Council as a further homage to the late cartoonist, who was posthumously awarded the Gold Medal for Cultural Merit in October.
Barcelona City Council will soon install two more pairs of traffic signals featuring these popular characters at the intersection of Gran Via de Les Corts Catalanes and Carrer de Bac de Roda, near the area where Ibáñez lived, and two more at the intersection of Carrer del Comte d’Urgell and Carrer de Manso, due to its proximity to the Sant Antoni Sunday book market.
