Glorieta de la Transsexual Sonia

A bandstand stands in the Parc de la Ciutadella in Barcelona, directly in front of the park's Cascada Monumental. Antoni Maria Gallissà built the Glorieta de la Transsexual Sonia in 1884 as a music pavilion for the municipal band. Stone, iron and wood form its circular base, with a convex bench dressed in trencadís, a mosaic of broken tiles. Sphere-topped pilasters divide the bench into seven sections, and the eighth holds the stairs to the platform. Above it, eight pillars lift an octagonal roof with a small dome.

The glorieta commemorates Sonia Rescalvo Zafra, a trans woman murdered here on 6 October 1991. Sonia came to Barcelona from Conca and spent years as a showgirl at the Teatre Arnau on Avinguda Paral·lel. After the variety scene faded, she lived and worked in the park itself. Six neo-Nazi skinheads attacked her and her friend Doris in the early morning as they slept on the platform. Sonia died in the attack, while Doris survived, and the same group also assaulted a homeless man elsewhere in the park. Spain counts her death as the first known killing of a person for being transgender. A plaque went up in 1993, and a monument to gays, lesbians and transgender people followed in 2011. In 2013 the city renamed the bandstand, making Barcelona the first European city to dedicate public space to a trans person.

Look for the ribbons and handwritten messages of support tied to the wrought iron railing. Each October, people gather around the anniversary of her death for speeches, performances and awareness activities. Children sometimes join workshops in bracelet making or lessons about gender identity. The dome still shelters the platform where the city's band once played.