Calle de Zurbano

Martín Zurbano was born in Varea, near Logroño, in 1788, of humble origin. He became a soldier fighting as a guerrilla against the French in the Peninsular War, and rose from the ranks all the way to field marshal. A defender of the liberal cause, he tied his fortunes to those of General Espartero. When Espartero fell, Zurbano rose up in 1844 demanding the regent’s return. The rising failed and he was shot in January 1845 along with two of his sons. Popular memory remembered him as a martyr of liberty. The street climbs parallel to the paseo de la Castellana, from Génova toward Nuevos Ministerios, among Belle Époque mansions. At number 5, in 1928, Fabiola de Mora y Aragón was born, the future queen of the Belgians. And in an old grocer’s on the street, open since 1930, one can still see the marks left by Civil War gunfire.