Calle Marqués del Vasto

Behind the name of this short street in Ríos Rosas hides Alfonso de Ávalos (1502-1546), Marquis del Vasto, one of the captains who carried the arms of Charles V across half of Europe. From a Neapolitan family of Castilian origin, he fought at the Battle of Pavia, where the imperial army captured the king of France, and led the troops that conquered Tunis in 1535. He rose to govern the Duchy of Milan. The story goes that, when the Spanish troops garrisoned in Milan mutinied over their unpaid wages, he calmed them with his word alone: he swore he would pay and left his own son as a pledge. Titian painted that scene on a canvas that now hangs in the Prado. The street does not stand alone. Its neighbours Don Álvaro de Bazán and Batalla de Mühlberg also evoke the imperial Spain of the 16th century, so this corner of Chamberí gathers names of soldiers and victories of the age.