The Scotsman

The recent refurbishment of a Spanish fruit and vegetable market has raised the question whether its striking and idiosyncratic features were the inspiration behind the Scottish Parliament building. Designed in 1997, a year before the Holyrood building, the Santa Caterina Market in the old quarter of Barcelona shares the familiar curved roof outlines, ornate wooden window frames and elaborate entrance. Benedetta Tagliabue's Barcelona architecture firm EMBT - which designed the Holyrood building - has recently completed the project. And like its Scottish cousin, the Spanish building was dogged by delays and controversy, not least by the death of Tagliabue's husband, Enric Miralles, the inspiration behind both buildings.