Calle de Chile

The name pays tribute to Chile, the Andean republic that stretches down the west of South America between the mountain range and the Pacific. The street springs from a collective decision: when the Hispanoamérica neighbourhood was developed, from the mid-1970s, the entire street plan was dedicated to the nations and cities across the Atlantic, with the Avenida de Costa Rica marking one of its boundaries. The place name Chile carries a disputed etymology; the most repeated explanation has it come from an Aymara word read as “edge” or “where the land ends.” To walk these pavements is to cross a map of the Americas in a few minutes, from the Paseo de Bolivia to the streets dedicated to Mexico without leaving Madrid.