The Dutch dairy mural of Poble-sec

A remarkable Dutch ceramic mural still frames a food shop in the heart of Barcelona’s Poble-sec district. The artwork stands at number 42 Salvà Street, where a historic dairy operated from 1910 and became known partly because of the mural surrounding its entrance.

The mural came from the Dutch pavilion at Barcelona’s 1929 International Exposition. The owners of the dairy acquired it just as the pavilion was about to be dismantled, then moved it to their shop after making several adjustments. It depicts a rural Dutch scene, with cows and a farm above, and a man and woman carrying out tasks linked to traditional milk production at the sides.

The shop, known as La Lleteria, was not the only dairy in Poble-sec, but the mural helped make it one of the neighborhood’s best known. Buenaventura Piñol and Dolors Pellicer, who owned the business, fell in love with the ceramic ensemble, especially Dolors, a great admirer of modernist art. They added the family’s initials to the work.

A ban on city dairies from the middle of the last century forced the owners to transfer the premises. A basket shop occupied it for decades, followed later by a production company. More than a decade ago, the current organic and local-food store opened there. It kept the original name, adding “Biocolmado,” and preserved the mural as its defining feature.

Time left the ceramic work badly damaged, with cracks, deposits, missing and broken tiles, and large sections covered in mortar. A restoration in 2003 returned it to display condition, allowing the mural to shine again as it had a century ago.