Calle de Abtao
The street bears the name of the naval battle of 7 February 1866 fought in the Chayahué channel (Calbuco archipelago, southern Chile), off Abtao island, during the Spanish–South American War of 1864-1866. The Spanish frigates Villa de Madrid, under captain Claudio Alvargonzález Sánchez, and Blanca, under captain Juan Bautista Topete, operated under the overall command of brigadier Casto Méndez Núñez, commander of the Pacific Squadron, and faced the allied Chilean-Peruvian fleet. Madrid named the street this way in the second half of the 19th century, when the Pacífico neighborhood received a set of naval place names tied to that campaign.
Southeast of Atocha station, in the last third of the 19th century, a neighborhood grew that took its name from the sea: Pacífico. Its streets work as a map of the naval campaign Spain fought off the coasts of South America between 1864 and 1866. The main street named the whole neighborhood; around it lined up names like Abtao, Numancia and the ships of that squadron.
Calle de Abtao recalls a battle fought on 7 February 1866 off Abtao island, in southern Chile. There two Spanish frigates maneuvered, the Villa de Madrid and the Blanca, sent by brigadier Casto Méndez Núñez against the allied Chilean-Peruvian fleet. The cannon fire lasted nearly two hours and even so no one settled the matter: the Spanish frigates ended up withdrawing. Both sides claimed victory, and the street’s name belongs to the Spanish reading of the episode.