The striking red King Kong sculpture that clung to the cornice of an apartment block in Sants has finally been taken down. Its owner, weary of a long-running dispute with Barcelona City Council, removed the piece after receiving yet another fine, reportedly around €1,600.
The artwork, Wild Kong, by French sculptor Richard Orlinski, has been a fixture – and a controversy, for nearly a decade. Residents and visitors alike could see the scarlet gorilla scaling the façade of the Cosmo apartments. But the council has maintained throughout that the installation breached regulations, treating it as an unauthorised advertising lure rather than a legitimate artistic expression. The city’s Urban Landscape Institute went further, warning that its size, colour and placement created a ‘visual impact’ detrimental to the streetscape.
The property’s lawyer, Mario Sol Muntañola, said the owner still hopes to keep the gorilla in place through mediation, and if necessary by pursuing a civil case to defend the artist’s moral rights. For Orlinski, the gorilla was conceived as integrated urban art, not mere decoration. Yet the council’s position remains firm: without a licence, the sculpture cannot return to the cornice.
The removal marks the latest twist in a saga stretching back nine years. Previous summers saw the gorilla shrouded beneath a tarpaulin in a compromise attempt to placate inspectors. Even in that muted form, it continued to peer out over the street until the final sanction tipped the balance.
Whether the gorilla will ever climb again depends on the outcome of ongoing talks – and, perhaps, a courtroom battle.
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