Calle de la Araucaria

The araucaria is an ancient conifer, native to the cold forests of southern Chile and Argentine Patagonia. Its name refers to the Arauco region; the Mapuche call it pewén, and its pine nuts fed the Pehuenche, literally the people of the araucaria. Its branches grow in regular tiers, so stiff and spiny that in English it was nicknamed the monkey puzzle. Some specimens live past a thousand years. The street belongs to a group of Berruguete streets named after flora: a few steps away are Saúco, Hierbabuena and Panizo, a small street herbarium in the heart of Tetuán. The sign came of a practical need. When the old Tetuán de las Victorias was incorporated into Madrid, much of its street map recalled episodes of the Moroccan war, and many of those names already existed in the capital. This very street was once called Serrano, which clashed with the well-known avenue downtown, and became Araucaria. Why the araucaria in particular was chosen, an Andean tree rare in Madrid’s gardens, no record survives.