Calle de Loreto Prado y Enrique Chicote

Malasaña·Universidad

The street is named after the artistic duo formed by the actress Loreto Prado Medero (Madrid, 1863-1943) and the actor and theatre manager Enrique Chicote del Riego (Madrid, 1870-1958). Madrid’s council gave the street this name on 18 January 1936, while both were still alive, in recognition of their half-century of work in the género chico and the Madrid sainete.

Ninety-six metres are enough to honour one of the great duos of Madrid’s popular theatre. The street runs from calle de la Ballesta to the Corredera Baja de San Pablo, and already in 1656 it appeared on Texeira’s map under the name San Joseph. Loreto Prado and Enrique Chicote embodied the city’s comic theatre through the first third of the 20th century. They joined forces in 1896 and made the Teatro Cómico their home; between them they studied nearly two thousand works, almost always the local sainete and género chico. Their greatest hit was Alma de Dios (1907): more than seven hundred consecutive performances to full houses. The council dedicated the street to them in January 1936, both still active. The ceramic street sign depicts a Madrid tenement courtyard.

Its names

  • Calle de San Joseph1656 (plano de Texeira) – c. 1831
  • Travesía de la Ballestac. 1831–1836 – 1854
  • Calle de la Lealtad1854 – 1856
  • Travesía de la Ballesta1856 – 18 enero 1936
  • Calle de Loreto Prado y Enrique Chicote18 de enero de 1936 – actualidad
Sources (10)

Crossings