Calle de Evaristo San Miguel

When the Argüelles district took shape in 1865, this street opened with a spare name: Don Evaristo. The first name was enough, since everyone knew who was meant. In 1902 the council renamed it with his full surname. Evaristo Fernández de San Miguel y Valledor was born in Gijón in 1785. He fought the French invader in the Peninsular War, was taken prisoner and spent years in captivity in France. His name became tied to an episode of early 1820: after Rafael del Riego’s uprising, San Miguel set words to the march of those troops. The Himno de Riego became a banner of Spanish liberalism and served as official anthem during the Liberal Triennium and, later, the Second Republic. He led the Council of Ministers between 1822 and 1823, reached the rank of captain general and died in Madrid in 1862. The street links calle de la Princesa with plaza del Marqués de Cerralbo, in the heart of Argüelles.