Just a short distance away from the Egg of Columbus, in Sant Antoni, at the crossing of the streets Ample and Ramón y Cajal, can be found a stone statue, carved out of a 7-tonne block by artist Antonio Hormigo and unveiled in 1977. The piece represents a verro doing an uc. But what is a ‘verro’ and what is an ‘uc’?

A verro is the term with which traditional Ibiza society named the young men who would show off in front of the others of being the strongest and bravest, the cocky guys. The profile used to be that of a young man, boastful and with a tendency to pick a fight easily. Verros represented the honour of their families and could take particular relevance in courtship, when they competed with the others to make the girls fall for them and their parents like them, provoking in turn numerous disputes and clashes.

The uc is a cry that is used initially to excite or intimidate animals or people. This peculiar shout of the young country folk can also be found in other parts of Spain, although with different modulations. It can provoke joy, praise, mocking or a certain air of challenge or defiance.

In Ibiza there was a music group called Uc, which was formed in the summer of 1973. They actually made a song very popular, which talked about the habit of crying out ucs and the prohibition to do it by the authorities. Some of the verses of the song explain its meaning and the song ends with something like an uc.