“As for the Aldaya mansion, it is still there, against all predictions. In the end, Mr. Aguilar’s estate agency managed to sell it. It was completely restored, and the statues of angels were churned down to gravel to cover the parking lot that takes up what was once the Aldaya’s garden. Today it houses an advertising agency dedicated to the creation and promotion of that strange poetry singing the glories of cotton socks, skim milk, and sports cars for jet-setting businessmen. I must confess that one day, given the most unlikely reasons, I turned up there and asked if I could be shown around the house. The old library where I nearly lost my life is now a boardroom decorated with ad posters of deodorants and detergents possessing magical powers. The room where Bea and I conceived Julian is now the bathroom of the chief executive.”

– Carlos Ruiz Zafon,
The Shadow of the Wind, p. 486