Calle de Triquet

At the southeastern edge of Retiro, where the Adelfas neighborhood drops toward the tracks and the old Pacífico station, a short stretch of barely a hundred meters bears the name Triquet. The street registry gives no reason for the name. Triquet is a surname of French root, and the word triquet also comes from that language, an old diminutive of trique, “rod” or “staff.” None of these clues is confirmed for the Madrid street: there is no record that it names a person, a trade or a game. The name was fixed and its reason has not survived. Today the street opens onto the area around Martín Luther King park, among sports facilities and play areas. It is a discreet stretch, almost a passage, whose sign leaves no trace of where it came from.