The Bañuls route
In Your next stop today, we advice you to take advantage of the arrival of good weather in the city. That is why we recommend you an amazing route, the Bañuls. A short tour of three stops through the heart of the city where you will find part of the legacy that the Alicante sculptor Vicente Bañuls left in “La Terreta”.
To take this tour you only need two things: comfortable shoes and to open your eyes to what surrounds you. It’s time to admire the art hidden in the daily routine, because sometimes you need to feel like a tourist in your own city to be able to appreciate it.
And just like that, we are going to explain how to get to the starting point of the route that we want to dedicate to Vicente Bañuls. In case you still had doubts about how you would get to the starting point, the answer is simple: by bus. Here you can find some of the Alicante urban transport lines that will take you there. Choose the one that best suits where you are and enjoy the journey.
Vectalia takes you
Our route will start at Canalejas Park. You can get there on the following lines:
Line 2: Take line 2 to the stop Rambla Méndez Núñez 7
Line 3: Go to your nearest stop, raise your hand and enjoy the ride to Plaza Ruperto Chapí 3
Line 5: This bus will take you to the stop Rambla Méndez Núñez 4-6
Vicente Bañuls, from charcoal to stone
But wait. We have assumed that you know who Vicente Bañuls is, and perhaps that is not the case. Bañuls would be part of a small group of illustrious Alicante residents who took the name of Alicante across borders.
Vicente Bañuls (Alicante, 1866) was discovered as a draughtsman and carver by his own uncle, José Sellés, who contacted Juan Rizo’s sculpture workshop. In Rizo’s workshop, a very young Vicente Bañuls came into contact for the first time with one of the materials that would accompany him throughout his career: stone. At the same time as he perfected his skills as a sculptor, Bañuls practiced other disciplines of the Fine Arts. With teachers such as the painter Lorenzo Casanova and surrounded by other contemporaries such as Lorenzo Pericás, Rafael Hernández, José López Tomás and Gabriel Miró, Vicente Bañuls grew and broadened his perspective as an artist.
Es en la última década del siglo XIX cuando Vicente Bañuls empieza a ganar notoriedad como artista. Gracias al arquitecto José Guardiola y al Plan de Ensanche de la ciudad aprobado por el Ministerio de Fomento. Guardiola consideró las esculturas de Bañuls como una firme opción para la “nueva” imagen del municipio. Esta época podría considerarse como la época dorada de Bañuls en Alicante. El mismo alcalde, José Gadea, le encargó unas columnas al escultor para adornar la entrada del paseo que hoy lleva su nombre (Gadea). Hasta ahora, seguro que ni te habías cuestionado cuánto tiempo llevan ahí….ahora ya lo sabes.
It was in the last decade of the 19th century when Vicente Bañuls began to gain notoriety as an artist. Thanks to the architect José Guardiola and the city’s Expansion Plan approved by the Ministry of Public Works. Guardiola considered Bañuls’ sculptures to be a firm option for the “new” image of the municipality. This period could be considered the golden age of Bañuls in Alicante. The mayor himself, José Gadea, commissioned some columns from the sculptor to decorate the entrance to the promenade that today bears his name (Gadea). Until now, you had surely not even questioned how long they had been there… now you know.
But enough of history! Let’s start the route.
First stop
If the bus has taken you to La Rambla, walk to the end of it until you reach one of the most emblematic avenues of the city, the Explanada. Its waves of red, ivory and blue cobblestones will accompany you to the beginning of our first stop: Canalejas Park.
Built on the site of the old Alicante shipyard, the park in honour of Canalejas is one of the oldest in the city. If it’s a hot day, take shelter under the shade of one of its enormous ficus trees, which are over a century old. This is a good time to remember the principle of this guide: open your eyes to the city as if you were a tourist. Let’s try it, close your eyes and open them again, take advantage of this moment to let yourself be carried away by the sound of the Niño Flautista, the name by which the fountain in the park is known. Open your eyes again, in front of you: the port promenade runs parallel to the park and there, erected between the Explanada and the park, is the work of Bañuls: the sculpture in honour of the leader of the Liberal Party, several times President of the Council of Ministers and deputy for Alcoy, José Antonio Canalejas; Opened on December 13, 1914, this stop is not only a meeting point with art, but also, obviously, a meeting point with the history of the city.
With Bañuls to San Fernando
The next stop on our route is less than five minutes walk from where we are. We leave Canalejas Park and walk in the opposite direction to the sea; the sun accompanies us on the walk to San Fernando Street (Alicante is one of the cities in Spain with the highest rate of sunny days, which makes it a perfect destination). You will only have to walk five minutes to reach the next point of interest: the headquarters of the Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo. At this point we become “tourists” again, observe the façade in all its dimensions, feel the stone. Many years have passed but the bas-reliefs that you will touch at that moment were designed and sculpted by Bañuls himself. Is there a better way to get to know the city and its history than being able to feel it?
The water carrier of Bañuls
Although Vicente Bañuls has several other works spread throughout the city, we have chosen one of them as the finishing touch to this route: the Aguadora. Why? For its beauty, its freshness, its sound and its magnificent location. Let’s go there.
Continue walking along San Fernando Street. This time, the direction to follow is towards the City Hall. Almost reaching the end of San Fernando Street, you will see how a square opens up between the buildings, as if it were a lung pushing against the ribs of the body. This place, Gabriel Miró Square, is a perfect place to take a breath in the most poetic sense of the expression, to escape, to breathe.
In the centre of the square, surrounded by benches, pergolas, climbing plants and the shade of centuries-old ficus trees, there is the Water-carrier of Bañuls. A fountain with a pedestal and on it, the image of a very young woman holding a jug from which crystal-clear water falls. The faces of several children can be seen sculpted on the pedestal.
The enclave is unique for travelling back in time as many of the buildings that rise around the square also belong to the 19th century, it is almost like entering a photograph, breathing in it while listening to the sound of La Aguadora.
We hope you enjoyed the Bañuls route as much as we did when we thought of it for you. We would also like to thank the Alicante Vivo archives for allowing us to document this stop.