Calle de Mejía Lequerica

Chueca·Justicia

The name honours José Mejía Lequerica (Quito, 1775 – Cádiz, 1813), a Creole deputy for Quito at the 1810 Cortes of Cádiz, known as the “American Mirabeau” for his parliamentary eloquence. Madrid’s city council approved the name on 18 November 1910, roughly the centenary of those Cortes. The street had earlier been called Flores, Florida and Concordia, inherited from the gardens of doña María de la Vega, countess of La Florida, which occupied the plot in the 17th century.

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.

Its names

  • Calle de las Floresanterior a 1656
  • Calle de la Florida18th century
  • Calle de la Concordia19th century - 18 de noviembre de 1910
  • Calle de Mejía Lequerica18 de noviembre de 1910 - actualidad
Sources (8)

Crossings