Illiteracy

In Madrid, Spain, for much of the city’s history, there has been a large population that was unable to read. Therefore, street signs were almost entirely worthless - nobody could read the names.

City plans thought up a clever system of putting pictures on the signs to tell locals what was on the street. This street was Santa Maria, so presumably you would find the Virgin Mary here. Other street signs had depictions of butchers, bakers, etc.

This was a clever way of solving a very real problem.

Museum of Ham

Only in Madrid, Spain. They have these locations all over the city called the Museo del Jamon – Museum of Ham. It’s not really a museum as much as it as a fast food hell.

Feel the blood trying to make its way through the clogged arteries.

Dollar Stores

In the U.S., we have Dollar Stores. In Europe, they have 0.60 Euro stores. I guess this shows the weakness of the U.S. dollar.

I foun this particular Euro 0.60 Store in Madrid, Spain.

Running Away from People

I found this sign on the streets of Madrid, Spain. No idea on this sign either. Does this mean run away from other people? Strange.

Play in the Street

I found this sign on the streets of Madrid, Spain. I truly have no idea what they mean. I think this one means to play in the street. Or maybe it means that cars should try to run over children.

I really don’t know what it means.

Dunkin’ Coffee

In Madrid, they don’t do donuts. So, it’s Dunkin’ Coffee instead of Dunkin’ Donuts. Same company, same concept. But it looks funny to not have the donuts there.

You have to wonder about the branding confusion here though. Customers worldwide have come to know the brand one way, but then they introduce this brand confusion.

At least they aren't using those terrible Rachel Ray ads in Spain (thank god for something).