Calle de Lombia

Juan Lombía started out planing wood. He trained as a cabinetmaker in Zaragoza and only in 1829 turned to the theatre. In 1835 he settled in Madrid and between 1840 and 1845 ran the Teatro de la Cruz, where he made a decision that would tie him to one of the great names of the Spanish stage: he signed an exclusive contract with José Zorrilla, which produced twenty-two premieres of the poet’s work. Among them, on 28 March 1844, that of Don Juan Tenorio. The play that millions know by heart first reached the stage under the direction of this former Zaragoza carpenter. Lombía also wrote his own work, El sitio de Zaragoza and El 2 de mayo, and adapted from the French. The street bearing his name was born with the Ensanche of Carlos María de Castro and runs from calle de Alcalá to Jorge Juan.