Erected on the plaza de Cascorro [es], it consists of a bronze statue of the aforementioned Cuban War hero authored by Aniceto Marinas, put on a stone plinth.

It is a monument dedicated to Eloy Gonzalo [es] a Spanish soldier in the Cuban War independence who, in September 1896—during a siege by a party of about 2,500 Cuban mambises equipped with 70 mm battalion guns on a small regiment of Spanish soldiers garrisoned in the small village of Cascorro [es]—[1] reportedly volunteered to his superiors in a nearly suicidal mission to infiltrate the enemy lines and fire the hut used as a warehouse for the weaponry of the enemy.

[2] Reportedly equipped with a 10-liter gasoline can, a Mauser rifle, a torch and a rope (to tie himself allowing for the retrieval of his corpse in case he fell in action, as he was certain of)[2] he succeeded against all odds, helping to demoralize the enemy until the lift of the siege by General Adolfo Jiménez Castellanos,[3] only to die of dysentery in Matanzas in June 1897.

[4] The bronze statue designed by Aniceto Marinas (cast in Barcelona at Masriera y Campins' foundry)[5] represents a 2.30 metre[5] full-body Eloy Gonzalo wearing the rayadillo uniform characteristic of the Spanish soldiers during the conflict,[6] strapped at chest height by a rope, wielding a flaming torch with his right hand while he holds the oil can with his left arm, also carrying a rifle and a machete.

[6] It was unveiled at its original location at the Plaza de Cascorro—mentioned at the time as Plaza del Rastro—on 5 June 1902,[8] matching it with the inauguration of a number of outdoor sculptures in Madrid on the occasion of the celebrations for the coming of age of King Alfonso XIII (delayed several times by bad weather),[8] featuring notable figures such as Bravo Murillo, Agustín Argüelles, Lope de Vega, Francisco de Quevedo, and Goya.