Glorieta del General Álvarez de Castro

Behind the name is a man who ordered the execution of anyone who uttered the word “surrender.” Mariano Álvarez de Castro was born in Granada in 1749 and became military governor of Gerona in the thick of the Peninsular War. When the French besieged the city in 1809, he issued a proclamation punishing any attempt to surrender with death. The siege dragged on for nearly seven months. With some 5,600 men against a far larger army, Álvarez de Castro held out against hunger and disease until exhaustion forced him to give up command. He was taken prisoner and died in captivity in January 1810. The fame of his resistance made him a symbol of Spanish defense against Napoleon. The name is shared today between Calle del General Álvarez de Castro, which runs through the Trafalgar neighborhood, and the roundabout that opens its northern end.