Rapto de Europa is a popular title for paintings and sculptures, this particular one is by Jose Seguiri and sits in the gardens of the Casa Fuerte Bezmiliana in Rincón de la Victoria.

So it apparently goes (in one version)…One fine day, the god Zeus sees Europa playing on the beach of Sidon. Captivated by her beauty, he transforms himself into a white bull and sits at the maiden’s feet. After overcoming her initial shock at the animal’s gentleness, she caresses it and ends up riding on its back. The false bull takes advantage of this by throwing himself into the sea and speeding off to Crete. He then revealed his true identity, and Europa became the first queen of Crete.

Zeus later re-created the shape of the white bull in the stars, which is now known as the constellation Taurus.

Europa was almost certainly Phoenician and appears in Greek and Roman mythology. The continent of Europe is named after her, coins and notes in the EU have borne her likeness and the Europe website is named after her.

José Seguiri was born in Málaga in 1954 and studied at the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes, Madrid.