Calle Alemania

The sign names Germany, the country in central Europe whose Spanish name comes from the Latin Alemannia, derived from the Alamanni, the confederation of Germanic peoples the Romans placed across the Rhine. Why a short stretch of Almenara ended up christened with the name of a distant nation is something the street map does not explain: no record of the decision survives. The easy guess would be a themed series of European countries. But the neighboring streets disprove it: around it open streets named after trees and flowers —⁠Cedros, Ailanto, Nardo⁠—⁠, with no trace of France or Belgium to keep this solitary Alemania company, wedged between Cedros and San Aquilino. Tetuán was born around 1860 from the camp of the troops returning from the African war. When it was annexed to Madrid, many of its original names had to be changed because they clashed with the capital’s. In that shuffle this street kept the name of a country, and none of the story to justify it.