Calle Aníbal

Behind this name is Hannibal Barca, son of the general Hamilcar, born in Carthage around 247 BC. His name comes from the Phoenician Hanni-baʿal, “favored by Baal.” He commanded the Carthaginian armies during the Second Punic War and also directed his city’s affairs. His most remembered feat began in Hispania: he set out from Cartago Nova, crossed the Pyrenees and then the Alps with an army that included war elephants, and fell upon Italy where Rome did not expect him. For years he humbled the legions on their own soil, in battles such as Cannae, without ever taking the city. Rome answered by attacking Africa, and there, at Zama, he met defeat at last against Scipio. The street is a short stretch in northeastern Tetuán, in the Castillejos neighborhood, whose names were fixed when old Tetuán de las Victorias was absorbed into Madrid. No record survives of why these few dozen meters were dedicated here to a warlord of antiquity.