‘New sleep paralysis demon just dropped’: Spanish bus company unveils latest dancing mascot

The Spanish city of Sabadell has unveiled the new mascot for its local bus network to mixed reactions online.

The Transports Urbans de Sabadell (TUS), which operates in the city just north of Barcelona, revealed its “La Bussi” mascot on TikTok on 22 September to a storm of social media reactions.

“La Bussi is the new mascot of the urban buses of #Sabadell,” a translation of the video’s caption reads.

The mascot has green hands, feet and what resemble antennae. White in colour, it appears to have bus routes depicted across its body and a grin fixed to its tiny face.

In the video, La Bussi can be seen appearing from the doors of a bus before dancing down a red carpet and down a street, along with other members of the bus company.

Twitter users were quick to comment on the video, with one comparing the new mascot to a snail, while another wrote: “Not sure why a bus service needs a mascot - or why pretty much anything does to be honest - but hey actually has the routes printed on it, so right away wins the award for most practical mascot at least. You go, you mad, practical, thingo!”

Others were less convinced, with one person commenting: “New sleep paralysis demon just dropped.”

Another wrote: “What the heck is it supposed to be? I get that it is part route map, but then it looks kind of like a snail or something!? I’m so confused! And man, that name is either super unfortunate or super awesome, not sure which one, just yet.”

The mascot has faced criticism over the choice of name, which apparently refers to slang for a man’s anus in English.

Spanish speakers were, however, less confused by the “La Bussi” moniker.

Paco López, President of the TUS, said the name was a portmanteau of the Spanish words "¡Bus, sí!", which translates to “bus” and “yes” in English.

Mr López said he believes the introduction of the mascot will help create positive associations with public transport in Sabadell’s children.