Flies in Girona

Flies are annoying. They carry disease and buzz around the room annoyingly. Also, they eat poo. For this reason, most people hate flies.

But not the people of Girona. They don't only not hate flies, they love flies. In fact, they love flies so much that they have made the fly Girona's patron animal. It comes from the legend of Saint Narcis. Legend says that when French soldiers entered Girona, a huge swarm of giant flies burst out of Saint Narcis's tomb. The flies attacked the French soldiers, and the soldiers fled the city. Girona was saved, by flies. From that moment on, flies were no longer a symbol of filth and death, but a symbol of local pride.

• Girona has a street called Carrer de les Mosques (Street of the Flies)
• At the corner of Carrer del Pou Rodó and Carrer de les Mosques, along the corner walls, there are small fly sculptures built into the stone.
• The leader of Girona's capgrosses, l’Esquivamosques, has a fly on his nose.

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  Fly painted on a door in the Barri Vell
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  Fly on the ground of a children's playground at Plaça Catalonia
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  Flies in Girona tourist shop
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  Carrer de les Mosques