Paseo de los Melancólicos

Few streets in Madrid carry a state of mind for a name. The paseo de los Melancólicos descends from the ronda de Segovia toward the calle de San Epifanio along an edge of the Imperial district that was long a no-man’s-land: empty lots, walls, railway tracks. The title was given by the residents nearby, who associated the place, almost always deserted, with a sadness that matched the sign. From that word-of-mouth use it passed into the official register. There is no figure or battle behind the name here, only the character of the place. The belt tracks that stitched together southern Madrid ran through here, brushing past stations like Delicias and Peñuelas. The landscape was railway, industrial and a touch desolate, with the old Mahou brewery near one end. Today much of the route has become a green corridor that barely recalls its past of tracks and smoke, while the name keeps insisting on melancholy.