The near completion of the Christopher Columbus Egg and the planting of the palm trees along side the new duel carriageway is the subject matter for our sixth weekly photographic series in the face-lift of San Antonio, which took place ten-years-ago.

The Egg was built in the middle of the new roundabout to the entrance of San Antonio - because it’s believed in certain quarters that Christopher Columbus hails from Ibiza. The Egg comes into the tale when Columbus went along to ask the King of Spain for sponsorship to get a ship and put together a worthy crew to set sail for a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.

Apparently, the yarn goes that Christopher Columbus was sat around a dining table with the King of Spain and his aids when he was thrown a challenge across the table that they would grant him the funds to back his adventure if he could stand an egg on its end without any form of support.

The bright Columbus straight away very gently taps the bottom of the egg on the table until he made a base for the egg to stand upright - hence, Christopher got his dinero and also the credit for discovering America?

All Pictures © Gary Hardy (12^th April 1992)