Calle del Mirto

The myrtle is a Mediterranean shrub with glossy evergreen leaves, small white flowers, and a scent released when you brush against it. It is also known in Spanish as arrayán, a name that came from the Arabic ar-rayhan, “the fragrant one.” Greeks and Romans dedicated it to Venus and wove it into wreaths for weddings, and from there it carries centuries of association with love. Calle del Mirto is a short street in the Valdeacederas neighborhood, in the district of Tetuán. It is part of a large set of streets named after plants, flowers, and trees, a botanical vein that ordered much of the area’s street plan. No record survives of when or why the myrtle was chosen for this street. Valdeacederas itself was born of a plant: its name evokes a valley of sorrel.