Calle de Ágave

The agave gives this street its name: a succulent with fleshy leaves and spiny edges whose fibres, once dried, were twisted into ropes, mats and cords. It reached Europe from northern Mexico. The botanical name comes from the Greek agaué, ‘noble’ or ‘admirable’, for the plant’s imposing bearing. It has a reputation for patience: it can grow for decades without flowering, then send up a single very tall stalk laden with blooms and die afterwards. Hence in Spanish it is also known as pita or maguey. The street was not always called this. It appeared as Isabel la Católica and later as calle de la Pita, until in January 1949 it was labelled calle del Ágave. It runs between las Almortas and Cantueso, in a corner of Valdeacederas where the street names form a small herbarium of pulses and aromatic shrubs.