Calle de los Yeros

Behind this name is a humble plant few have heard of: the bitter vetch, an annual legume with branching stems and whitish flowers streaked with violet that thrives on the dry lands of Castile. Its small, faintly bitter grain was ground to feed livestock, and the plant also served as fodder and green manure, since it fixes nitrogen in the soil. It withstands drought, cold and poor ground, virtues that made it a faithful companion to the farmer in the arid fields of the interior. The street belongs to Almenara, in northern Tetuán, within the old district of La Ventilla. Several streets there bear the names of plants and flowers: a few steps away runs calle de los Geranios. That botanical streak reveals the modest, rural character of a suburb that grew among market gardens and wasteland before the city reached it. No record survives of the precise reason this legume was chosen, beyond its place in that series of country names from the old district.