The Snail and the Lizard
Palma Town Hall
The city’s town hall is located in the Plaza de Cort (Court Square) and was built between 1649 and 1680 by the architects Pere Bauçá, Miquel Oliver and Bartomeu Calafat. Take a look at its Baroque façade with Neo-Gothic and Mannerist features. The enormous overhanging wooden roof and the balcony, with its seven large windows, are very impressive, as is the "Rellotge d'en Figuera" (Figuera's clock) on the façade. Against the same front, there is another peculiar element worth mentioning. It is about the bench of “lazy” people. The "Banc del si no fos", as it is called in Catalan, means “if it wasn't” and refers to the excuses lazy people would make up to avoid a job. The building’s most intriguing story is reflected in the snail and lizard carved onto its façade, representing the signatures of the master stonemason Jaime Caragol and the master sculptor Francesc Dragó. These are actually signs of revenge against the mayor of the time as he refused to recognise the work they had done in the Town Hall.
As seen on
Palma de Mallorca City Tour: An Exotic European Island