Calle de Apolonio Morales
It honours an Apolonio Morales of whom no biographical record survives, whose first name descends from the Greek god Apollo.
The street recalls one Apolonio Morales of whom barely a trace remains. There is no record of who he was or why he earned a street in this corner of Chamartín; the name reached the map with no biography attached. What can be traced is the first name itself. Apolonio is a Greek theophoric name, one of those built around a deity: it means “consecrated to Apollo,” the god of light, music and oracles, son of Zeus and twin brother of Artemis. The same root gave cities called Apollonia scattered across the ancient Mediterranean.
Calle de Apolonio Morales runs through Nueva España, a residential neighbourhood that took shape from the 1950s onward, after Chamartín was absorbed into Madrid in 1948. It is a quiet area of villas and grand apartment blocks, home to several embassies and consular offices. A few steps away are the missions of various American countries, among gardens and railings.