Smiling Juanito, owner of Pinotxo in the Boqueria Market has died. He was a favorite of our family and friends each visit to Barcelona. We laugh at our photos with him, his smile and “thumbs up”. Meeting happy locals is part of why we travel. He will be greatly missed. RIP Juanito.
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Barcelona + Sweden
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His name was Joan Bayén, but known more popularly as Juanito. He passed away Tuesday at the age of 89 of natural causes, after 81 years behind the bar at Pinotxo. However the future of Bar Pinotxo is in the air as his family members now squabble about the ownership of the brand. Bar Pinotxo was acquired by a third party but now the Bayén family is suing them for using the intellectual property rights, it's a bit messy.
I'll be honest I never ate at Bar Pinotxo as it was always swamped by tourists, but a smiling Juanito was always there when I passed by.
You can read more here: https://www.lavanguardia.com/comer/al-dia/20230411/8887970/juanito-bayen-bar-pinotxo.html