Stickers on the traffic sign pole only: Almost every sticker is placed on the sign and pole, not on the wall. This shows that people choose “functional” urban furniture (traffic signs, poles, electrical boxes) as canvases rather than historic stonework.
Absence of stickers on the wall: The old stone wall (Arco de la Estrella) is visibly clean of stickers. This suggests active municipal maintenance and hygiene policies: stickers on heritage buildings are removed quickly to preserve the historical aesthetic.
Semiotics of control
Heritage walls = “protected space” (cultural value, preserved by institutions).
Traffic signs/poles = “liminal space” (not sacred, more tolerated as sites of subcultural expression).
This creates a hierarchy of acceptable surfaces: official walls are “sanitized,” while functional signs absorb bottom-up communication. The urban landscape is negotiated between top-down (authorities removing stickers from heritage) and bottom-up (youth, activists, subcultures) forces. The street sign becomes a concentrated node of countercultural expression precisely because it is less strictly protected.
Languages:
Spanish : Calle Arco de la Estrella : “Arco de la Estrella Street” .A heritage-oriented street sign in formal typography, part of the city’s official signage system.
Non-verbal official sign: Traffic sign (No left turn): universally recognizable symbol with no text. Its meaning is clear across languages, but here it has been visually modified with stickers.
Stickers (bottom-up interventions, multilingual):
NO A LA MINA ¡Defiende Cáceres! (Spanish) : political protest sticker against lithium mining.
Other stickers in English (LURDO, Monkey Crew, Rock), Spanish, and visual-only designs.
Some are graffiti-style tags, functioning more as symbols of identity than as legible text.
PALRA
135992
Laura_Pizarro_Jacinto
Spain
Cáceres
Spanish (activism sticker)
NO A LA MINA ¡Defiende Cáceres! : “NO TO THE MINE. Defend Cáceres!”
Same ecological/anti-mining campaign we saw earlier, directly linked to the Valdeflores lithium mine conflict.
Strong, urgent, local political messaging.
Spanish (branding / identity)
Ovejas negras, Reinas : “Black sheep, Queens.”
Subcultural slogan, perhaps linked to a feminist, youth, or urban collective.
The text below (harder to read): “Sabemos de dónde venimos así que sabemos aquello en lo que nos queremos convertir” : “We know where we come from, so we know what we want to become.”
Empowerment discourse, mixing identity and activism.
English elements
Social media icons (Instagram, YouTube, Spotify, etc.) signal global digital communication.
Words like Enemy appear in nearby stickers.
Visual / symbolic sticker (at the bottom)
A stylized human figure (appears female) in an oval frame, surrounded by plant-like patterns. Artistic rather than linguistic; evokes tattoo art, sacred iconography, or alternative subcultures.
Notes NO A LA MINA:
Local activism: Organized by citizens under “Plataforma Salvemos la Montaña”, a group opposing the lithium mining project near the Sierra de la Mosca, a protected ecological area and symbol of local heritage.
Mass mobilization: Two major protests were held in 2024, with attendance reaching up to 7,000 people, carrying slogans like “Defiende Cáceres” and “No a la mina” on banners throughout the city.
Transparency concerns: Activists have accused regional authorities of withholding unfavorable environmental reports, raising frustration and rallying calls like those on the sticker.
PALRA
135993
Laura_Pizarro_Jacinto
Spain
Cáceres
—
PALRA
135994
Laura_Pizarro_Jacinto
Spain
Cáceres
—
PALRA
135995
Laura_Pizarro_Jacinto
Spain
Cáceres
—
PALRA
135996
Laura_Pizarro_Jacinto
Spain
Cáceres
—
PALRA
135997
Laura_Pizarro_Jacinto
Spain
Cáceres
Spanish
Valencia de Alcántara, Cáceres : local place names.
Band names in Spanish: Bellotaris Fallecidos (“Dead Acorn-Eaters” – a humorous/local identity reference, since acorns are symbolic of Extremadura).
Zona de acampada autocaravanas gratuita : free camper van camping area.
English
Band names: Enemy, Dreadistance.
Rock in the logo.
Invented/stylized names
Gerxenes, Dakidarría, Biznaga, Lincham Velasco, Las Moskas Retrompeteras – some are Spanish, others invented words or hybrid forms. These contribute to subcultural identity more than linguistic clarity.
Lingscape
