News
Madrid seeks support to honour Ignacio Echeverría in Colón
Madrid could gain a new tribute in one of its most visible spaces. The Ignacio Echeverría Association has promoted a campaign to install a statue in Plaza de Colón in memory of the man known as the ‘Skateboard Hero’, who died in the 2017 London attacks after trying to defend a woman.
The proposal has been submitted through Decide Madrid, within the Participatory Budgets process. To be able to proceed, it needs to gather 1,000 endorsements before 30 June, a short deadline that makes these days decisive for the initiative.
Participation is open to people over 16 registered as residents in Madrid. The procedure is carried out through the municipal website, where residents can register and support the project if they want the tribute to be considered within the participatory process.
The proposed statue would be bronze and would be placed on a pedestal, with a presence similar to other monuments in the Colón area. The association seeks to ensure that the figure of Ignacio Echeverría is not limited to family or private remembrance, but becomes part of the city’s public space.
The tribute would have a clear symbolic weight. Ignacio Echeverría became a reference point for bravery and solidarity after confronting the attackers during the London Bridge attack. His skateboard, with which he tried to defend one of the victims, became associated with an image of civic courage that still moves many people.
Plaza de Colón is not just any place for such an initiative. It is one of Madrid’s busiest points, at the junction of Paseo de la Castellana, Recoletos and neighbourhoods such as Chamberí and Salamanca. Residents, workers, tourists and students pass through it every day, which would give the monument constant visibility.
The project also opens a conversation about which stories Madrid chooses to remember in its streets. Beyond major political or military names, the proposal focuses on an ordinary person whose reaction in an extreme moment became an example of help and commitment.
The possible tribute to Ignacio Echeverría seeks to leave more than a sculpture. It seeks to remember that the city is also built through acts of anonymous courage, shared memory and figures capable of speaking to those who cross a square without knowing the whole story behind it.