Glorieta de Ruiz Jiménez

Ask a Madrilenian about the Glorieta de Ruiz Giménez and chances are they won’t know what you mean. The official name has stood since 1934, but everyone calls it Glorieta de San Bernardo, thanks partly to the Metro station. From 1625 the Puerta de Fuencarral stood here, a northern gate in Philip IV’s wall that did not defend the city but charged duty on goods. It fell in 1865 along with almost the whole wall. And here begins what many would rather not mention. The waste ground held the burning place of the Holy Office, sited outside the walls on purpose so the smell of the executions would not reach the city. In 1869, when the ground was lowered for building, workers struck layers of black, greasy tar: the charred remains of the condemned. So next time you cross this square, remember you tread on ground that was customs post, pyre and hospital before it was a roundabout.