Calle Alabastro

Alabaster is a soft, almost white stone that lets light through when carved into a thin sheet. Hence its prestige: before glass was cheap, the windows of many churches were closed with alabaster panels that filtered the sun into a warm glow. Spain was alabaster country, above all the Ebro valley, source of the material for the altarpieces, tombs and figures of entire cathedrals. The stone ended up naming this short street in the Delicias neighbourhood. There is no record of why it was chosen or when it was named, and the neighbouring streets do not form a group of minerals either: it sits alongside plant names such as Retama and Acanto. The material itself remains. Run your hand over a baptismal font or a Gothic tomb and you will most likely be touching alabaster: cold, smooth, with that milky vein that seems to hold light inside.