Calle de Sagasta

The name recalls Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, born in Torrecilla en Cameros in 1825 and dead in Madrid in 1903. He studied civil engineering and finished top of his class, but ended up devoting himself to liberal politics. He held the office of prime minister on eight separate occasions between 1870 and 1902, which made him a central figure of both the Democratic Sexennium and the Restoration. The city dedicated the street to him while he was still alive. The street was not born with this generous layout. It was once known as Ronda de Santa Bárbara, a narrow, lonely path. Around 1889 it became the broad avenue linking the Glorieta de Bilbao with the Plaza de Alonso Martínez, just as the Chamberí expansion began to fill with stately buildings. Today Sagasta serves as a border: it separates the Trafalgar neighborhood, in Chamberí, from Justicia, already in the Centro district.