La Rambla is sort of a pedestrian mall crossed with an open air market. Most of the living statues ply their trade here. The short explanation is that people dress up as statues, and whenever someone gives them money, they move around and do interesting things. Some of them were so good at it that actual statues of them in costume have been erected on La Rambla, which (in addition to the recursion) adds confusion as some visitors discover that what they thought was a living statue is dead and the statue they believed dead is very much alive.
It's not the weirdest thing you'll see on La Rambla...
Yes. That's a parakeet that has been adopted by two pigeons. Barcelona is a strange city that way.
It also has lots of fruit and lots and lots of fish. I'm actually kind of glad I was laid up with a sprained ankle when Beth decided to go fishing for photographs. Ha!
Here's a helpful sign.
Because otherwise, you probably wouldn't be able to resist the urge to poke, pet, hug, and kiss these adorable critters.
May their noodly appendages touch you.