Calle del Marqués de Santa Ana

Malasaña·Universidad

The name comes from Manuel María de Santa Ana y Rodríguez (Seville, 1820 – Madrid, 1894), journalist, founder of La Correspondencia de España, and 1st Marquess of Santa Ana. The street, called del Rubio until 1894, held the building he owned where that newspaper had its offices. The city council renamed it that same year, coinciding with the marquess’s death.

Between calle del Pez and calle del Espíritu Santo, calle del Marqués de Santa Ana climbs a gentle slope in Malasaña. That incline has earned it a second nickname, cuesta del Marqués de Santa Ana. Until 1894 it was called calle del Rubio, after a redhead nicknamed “el Rubio del arrabal” whose descendants were said to have inherited the hair colour, though no one documented it. The present name honours Manuel María de Santa Ana, founder of La Correspondencia de España, who threw the paper onto the street at a bargain price and sent its circulation soaring during the War of Africa. The Queen Regent granted him the marquessate in 1889. The street holds two illustrious birth records. At number 4, Clara Campoamor was born in 1888. At number 29, Rubén Darío settled with Francisca Sánchez from 1899; there gathered Azorín, the Machado brothers, and Valle-Inclán.

Its names

  • Calle del Rubioanterior a 1874 — 1894
  • Calle del Marqués de Santa Ana1894 — actualidad
Sources (9)

Crossings