The Diplomat
The Italian ambassador to Spain, Riccardo Guariglia, participated yesterday in the inauguration of the new Raffaella Carrà Square, located in the center of Madrid.
The ambassador was joined by the deputy mayor of Madrid, Begoña Villacís; the councilor of the district of Centro, José Fernández; the delegate of Culture, Tourism and Sport, Andrea Levy; and representatives of the municipal political groups and LGTBIQ+ entities and relatives of the Italian artist, who died in July last year. The square is located in front of numbers 43 and 45 of Fuencarral Street, between Malasaña and Chueca, and the name change was approved last October with the majority support of the municipal political groups and subsequently ratified by the Madrid City Council’s Governing Board.
During the ceremony, a nine-tile plaque was unveiled with the color image of Raffaella Carrà, the work of the painter Ángel García Pinto, which recalls the artist with her characteristic bangs and blonde hair. “Thank you Madrid! VivaRaffaella!”, declared the Italian Embassy through its Twitter account. The event has coincided with the first anniversary of her death and with the celebration of Pride, festivities in which Carrà was recognized as World Gay Icon and queen of Pride at the World Pride held in the capital in 2017.
The singer, composer, presenter, dancer, actress and choreographer Raffaella Maria Roberta Pelloni, a native of Bologna (Italy), was born in 1943 and passed away on July 5, 2021. The artist has always been closely linked to Spain and Madrid, where she developed a good part of her professional career. In 1975 she made her first appearance on Spanish television screens, but her great leap to popularity in Spain came in 1976 thanks to the program La Hora de Raffaella. In the 2000s, the artist hosted the program Hola Raffaella, “where she ended up conquering the hearts of Spaniards and particularly of the people of Madrid, who did not hesitate, as soon as they heard of her death, to make a permanent place for her in the city”, according to a press release issued by the City Council of the capital.
