Calle de Mejía Lequerica

Few of those who cross calle de Mejía Lequerica know they are walking over what in the 17th century was a private garden: that of doña María de la Vega, countess of La Florida. Madrileños called the street calle de las Flores, then de la Florida and later de la Concordia. On 18 November 1910, as Madrid marked the centenary of the Cortes of Cádiz, the council dedicated it to José Mejía Lequerica, one of the American voices of those Cortes. The short stretch holds a heritage rare for the neighbourhood: at number 2 stands the Palace of the Count of Villagonzalo and at number 4 that of the Marquis of Ustáriz, two of the few 18th-century palaces still standing in Madrid. At number 8, since 1913, rises the Papelera Española building, clad in ceramics by Juan Ruiz de Luna.

In 1813, faced with the yellow fever epidemic ravaging Cádiz, several deputies proposed moving the Cortes to another city. Mejía Lequerica opposed the idea and, drawing on his medical knowledge, certified to the chamber that there was no real danger of contagion. The Cortes remained in Cádiz. Weeks later, Mejía himself caught the disease and died on 27 October 1813, at the age of 38. His remains were exhumed the following year and lost in a common grave at the San José cemetery.