It’s not every morning you pass a guy in the street with a hooded raptor perched on his arm (to be honest, it had never happened before today). And so of course I had to stop and ask him what he was doing there with such a splendid bird. Turns out they were both working! They were just below the Metropol Parasol (aka The Mushrooms) and apparently José Manuel lets the beautiful Lupi loose on a regular basis to swoop around the Parasols and return to her perch, thereby keeping pigeons from roosting. Amazing! When you think about it, the Parasols would make a great pigeon hang-out and yet there are never any there. Thanks to Lupi and José Manuel.

It was only afterwards that I realised I had more questions. Are there several pigeon prevention teams that work on shifts, or are a few hours a day with a hawk shadow passing over the structure enough to keep pigeons away? Does Lupi also hunt and kill or just maintain a menacing presence? And who the hell thought this up? I think it’s brilliant.

What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen today?