Picasso went to theatre productions of plays by Echegaray, in what is nowadays known as the Rosalía de Castro Theatre, formerly known as the Main Theatre. María Pita Square already had that name, but there were only twelve houses built. The statue of the heroine, installed in 1998, was based on a drawing by a professor of the School of Fine Art, who was the enemy of his father, González Jiménez.
My father is the secretary of the School of Fine Art and professor of various subjects. I think he would be very happy in Coruña if it weren't for a couple of teachers who are always complaining about everything… One of these bores is José González Jiménez. They told me that some years ago he won the competition to make the statue of María Pita that was to be placed here, in the plaza named after her, but so far it has not been erected.
There aren’t too many statues here. In fact, there is only one: I see it every day, because it’s the one of Mr. Eusebio de Guarda. But I wouldn't be surprised if, sooner or later, they erected a statue to María Pita. This is a land where there are very determined and well-known women. Like María Pita. Or like Lady Emilia Pardo Bazán, who is a close friend of my mentor, Ramón Pérez Costales.
Now there is still a lot of building to do and plenty of room to spare. From the square, we can see the church of San Jorge: I drew its altar. I’ve been told that before there used to be another church of San Jorge, where the Main Theatre is now. Sometimes, I’ve been to that theatre to see works by Echegaray, however what I like best is eating cakes in La Gran Antilla at the end of the show.
At the back of this square are the galleries of the Marina. I hope that, however much they build in the future, they will have the good taste to preserve them. From them, there is a magnificent view of the bay. The boats I like the most are the ones they call "clippers". They are sailing boats, and very fast. I recently got a dog as a present. It's the first one I have ever had. I called him "Clipper".
Authors of the text:
Elena Pardo and Rubén Ventureira