Calle del Acebo

The holly is that shrub with hard, toothed leaves, green all year round, that fills with little red berries in December. It grows in the damp mid-mountain woods of the peninsula and withstands cold and snow without wilting. Ancient peoples took it for a protective plant and hung branches on their doors to ward off evil; from there it passed into Christmas wreaths. Today it is protected in Spain, so uprooting it from the hills is forbidden. The name fits the botanical streak of this part of the Chamartín district, where several streets bore plant names; the best known is the old calle Menta, now calle de Víctor Andrés Belaúnde, a few steps away. The calle del Acebo is a short stretch, barely over a hundred metres, in a residential sector of the Hispanoamérica quarter. Why the holly was chosen and not some other shrub has never been documented. What remains is the tree itself, the one with the leaves that prick and the red winter fruit.