Calle de Málaga

The street takes its name from Málaga, a city and provincial capital on the Andalusian coast, in a northern part of Madrid where several streets bear the names of Spanish cities.

The name Málaga points to the Andalusian city on the Mediterranean, one of the country’s oldest ports. The street was laid out in this northern stretch of Madrid, in the Ríos Rosas district, as the Ensanche expansion reached the outskirts and the local street plan opted here for a geographic repertoire: Spanish cities and provinces scattered across the blocks. No specific reason has survived linking this street to the city of Málaga; the name works as a toponymic tribute, with no event behind it. The city that lends its name carries a long history. The Phoenicians founded it around the 8th century BC as Malaka, a Semitic word often tied to the salted fish made there. From its Andalusi past, the Alcazaba fortress still stands atop the Gibralfaro hill. From there came the sweet wine that carried its name across half of Europe, and a painter born beside the Plaza de la Merced: Pablo Picasso.