Don Pollo, the streamer who eats chicken and drives half a city crazy

Don Pollo, the babbling idol who has thrown Barcelona into confusion

A video creator who eats fried chicken, makes inarticulate sounds and holds a doll while flanked by two security guards. He is not an artist or an athlete. He is Don Pollo, and his appearance in Barcelona has once again pitted two Spains against each other: the one that adores him and the one that stares at the ceiling praying for a meteorite.

The scene that set the skeptics on fire

The image has a touch of the absurd. According to online accounts, the character appeared in public with a doll and two bodyguards, surrounded by a young crowd, most of them holding a bag of snacks. A scene that has triggered more than one facepalm among those who cannot understand how something like this can fill a street.

Skeptics compare the fervor with the old collective hysterias over idols of bygone eras: Pedro Marín, Hombres G, One Direction, Take That. The list is long and always repeats itself. The difference, they point out, is that fans back then had idols with some charisma; Don Pollo babbles and eats chicken.

The business of the absurd

The phenomenon, however, laughs at the analyses. Critics talk about sheep-like herd behavior, but the uncomfortable question is another one: who is funding this tour? What lies behind a character who seems like an accident of the internet and yet attracts such attention?

This is where the analysis gets stuck. There are no reliable figures on audiences, revenue or strategy. Don Pollo exists because the internet made him exist, and while the mockery spreads, his trinc keep filling the streets. The meteorite, for now, is not coming.