Plaza de Getafe

The name comes from the south. Getafe is the town that grew along the old royal road between Madrid and Toledo, and its place name reaches back to the Andalusi period: from the forms Xatafi or Satafi, recorded around the mid-twelfth century, it shifted until it settled into today’s Getafe. One traditional account ties the Arabic root to the idea of “something long” and links it to the town’s main street; the exact origin is still debated. In the Prosperidad neighborhood, the name points not to the etymology but to the neighboring town. This corner of Chamartín took shape around 1862 on former farmland, with low brick houses and courtyards, before the city absorbed it. Why the square took the name of Getafe is not documented, though it fits the habit of borrowing the names of nearby towns for Madrid’s streets.