Strolling through the Eixample is often an exercise in pure contemplation, where the elegance of the classic facades coexists with the rhythm of its streets. However, in recent days, pedestrians on Consell de Cent Street have come across a most unusual sight: a huge, cartoonish slice of yellow cheese with crossed eyes, which reminds many of the SpongeBob SquarePants cartoons. This figure is the calling card for Boom Cake, an upcoming shop specializing in Japanese cakes and birthday cakes that has managed to get everyone talking without even having opened its doors yet.
The adventure of this unique “tenant,” however, will be quite brief. Following complaints from neighbors, the city council has opened a disciplinary proceeding, ruling that the design violates the city’s urban landscape regulations. Far from being discouraged, the business owners have confirmed that they will take down the installation next week, using the setback as an opportunity to promote themselves on social media as the most viral bakery in the Catalan capital right now.
A sea voyage that ends in a move
Behind this eye-catching cheese lies nearly a year of preparation. As the owners themselves have shared on their Instagram account, bringing this piece to life involved several design revisions, modeling it in fiberglass, and a long sea voyage before it reached its Barcelona storefront. Despite the effort involved, the business has complied with regulations quickly and in good faith.
Through their initial posts, which have focused entirely on this peculiar controversy, the owners have explained that their intention was never to cause offense. “We never imagined that our little ‘cheese’ would end up unintentionally becoming the center of attention,” they note on their profile. As a solution, they are already preparing a more understated design that will blend harmoniously with the neighborhood’s architectural style.
The Debate Over the Neighborhood’s Soul
Although the cheese’s days are numbered, its brief appearance has sparked a much deeper conversation on the streets of the neighborhood. The Dreta del Eixample Neighborhood Association has welcomed the decision to remove the structure, but has not missed the opportunity to reflect on the direction the district is taking.
For the neighborhood association, this case is nothing more than an anecdote that reflects a much larger phenomenon: the transformation of Barcelona’s commercial landscape. As they point out, the rise in tourism is attracting a model of stores that is increasingly distant from neighborhood shops—those designed to meet residents’ day-to-day needs—which are gradually becoming a rarity in the city center.
