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United Kingdom Star Wars fans in Madrid get carried away
Advance tickets have gone on sale, Star Wars merchandise has been designed and is flying off the shelves of stores across the globe, and reruns of previous episodes are being watched in countless homes.
But Spanish Star Wars fans are in for an extra surprise as a unique exhibition is being held in the capital until the end of this month.
Anyone visiting Madrid over the next two weeks will have the chance to visit and photograph themselves with one or all of the eight giant Star Wars helmets that have been placed in strategic locations across the city.
The ‘Face the Force’ exhibition was inaugurated on 31 October at the entrance to the Retiro Park in the Plaza de la Independencia Square by Madrid’s councillor for Culture and Sports and Simon Amselem, the managing director of Disney Spain.
As well as offering a treat to all Star Wars fans who are living in or visiting Madrid during the month of November, holding this type of event in the capital is a way of promoting the city internationally, something which the local government works hard to do.
The helmets, which are all of different characters that will appear in the film, are 3.5m high and made out of polythene, which has been set onto moulds of the characters then covered with fibre glass and high-resistance polyester resin. This has finally been polished and painted for the final look.
Without a doubt the most popular helmet is that of Darth Vader, which was placed in the middle of the roundabout at Bilbao. The number of people wanting to be photographed with this character was so many that it caused traffic problems as fans driving past even slowed their vehicles down in order to take a snap.
However, yesterday, Darth Vader disappeared, although given its size it shouldn’t be too difficult to locate and return to its initial position.
For anyone who will be in Madrid until the end of this month, the locations of the eight Star Wars helmets are as follows:
- Darth Vader: Glorieta de Bilbao
- Captain Phasma: Plaza de Colón
- First Order Stormtrooper: Puerta de Alcalá
- Resistance Pilot: Plaza de España
- Stormtrooper: Museo de Reina Sofia
- Imperial Pilot: Santa María de la Cabeza
- Rebel Pilot: Madrid Rio
The premiere of The Force Awakens will be shown on 18 December in cinemas across the country.
Source: www.abc.es, www.inquirer.net