Calle de Melquíades Álvarez

Melquíades Álvarez was one of the great orators of Spanish parliamentarism. Born in Gijón in 1864, he practiced law and won the chair of Roman Law in Oviedo, where he was a friend of the writer Clarín. He entered Congress in 1898, soon turned to republicanism, and in 1912 founded the Reformist Republican Party. He presided over the Congress of Deputies in the early twenties and championed bringing education within reach of working people. In August 1936, during the storming of Madrid’s Cárcel Modelo prison, militiamen took him from his cell and killed him. It is said that Azaña wept on hearing the news. The street did not always bear his name. It was once Calle de Juan Vigón, in memory of a general who joined the 1936 uprising and served as a minister under Franco. The historical memory law replaced the plaque with that of a fallen republican.