There are topics that are dodged because of shame, bad image or an obsession to be politically correct. One of them is the historical link between Barcelona and the oldest profession in the world.
Even when Barcelona was Barcino during the Roman Empire it was a whole business based on sex. At that time, the services of prostitutes such as Felatrix expert in fellations or Bustruariae who had sex in cemeteries were highly demanded. Of course, there were also brothels. These would not arrive to Barcelona until the seventeenth century.
Today, they continue observing sinners walking through the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. These faces, known as carassas in Catalan, are stone figures representing the head of a demon or satyr, females, jellyfish or sinful faces. Wherever they looked, there was a brothel.
In fact, they served to indicate the Castilian troops where they could let some steam off. Some of these carassas even have a name. In the corner between the carrer de les Mosques and Flassaders is the Papamosques meaning, The Fly Eater , that seems to be eating flies.
It is similar to the one that tells the time at Burgos Cathedral but it has nothing to do with. It is said that there was a brothel frequented by sailors, who would free women of their misery and fulfill the promise to the Virgin. Its association with prostitutes has not been confirmed but everything indicates that there is.
