Calle de Joaquín Costa

The name recalls Joaquín Costa (1846-1911), the son of farmers who rose to become a jurist and state attorney. The Disaster of 1898 turned him into the visible head of regenerationism, the movement that sought to shake off the decline of turn-of-the-century Spain. His motto, school and pantry, condensed the remedy: without education and a minimum of well-being there was no country to set right. The calle de Joaquín Costa began as a narrow path that around 1883 linked the Virgen del Camino district with a cemetery. That route was later enveloped by the residential estate of El Viso, meant for people of modest means and over time turned into one of the most expensive enclaves in Spain. Costa, who preached distribution and a pantry for all, now gives his name to a main street in the wealthiest district of Madrid.