Calle de Hernán Cortés

Chueca·Justicia

The name honours Hernán Cortés (Medellín, Badajoz, 1485 – Castilleja de la Cuesta, 1547), conqueror of Mexico and toppler of the Aztec Empire. The street received this name in 1835, within the great renaming led by magistrate Joaquín Vizcaíno, Marquis of Pontejos, who changed the labels of nearly 240 Madrid streets, removing repeated names and replacing them with historical figures. The street had previously been called de San Pedro y San Pablo, a title it had carried since at least 1656.

Between Fuencarral and Hortaleza, in the heart of Chueca, runs this short street already on Texeira’s 1656 map, then under another name: San Pedro y San Pablo. The change came in 1835, during the great reform of magistrate Pontejos, who renamed more than 240 streets at a stroke to erase repeated names and bring in famous figures. The conqueror from Extremadura received no tribute meant for him, just one more label in a wholesale renaming. What truly ties this street to history has nothing to do with the name. Juan de Villanueva, architect of the Prado Museum, was born here in 1739 and died here in 1811, in his house-studio. And here, on 12 March 1886, at number 8, the first issue of El Socialista came out, set at dawn by Pablo Iglesias, who slept in a corner of the hallway. Through those pages the Communist Manifesto circulated in Spain for the first time.

Its names

  • Calle de San Pedro y San PabloAnterior a 1656 – 1835
  • Calle de Hernán Cortés1835 – actualidad
Sources (7)

Crossings