Malasaña illustrated in a feminine key
Manuela Malasaña, the woman who gave her name to a Madrid neighborhood. What feats are hidden behind her? The story dates back to May 2, 1808 when the troops of Napoleon Bonaparte They occupied the capital.
It was then that Manuela, embroiderer by profession , entered the scene: back at her house, in the Monteleón Artillery Park , the heroine joined a group of Spanish soldiers who faced French troops.
Manuela Malasaña portrayed by José Luis Villar Rodríguez de Castro
Daoiz and Velarde , who guarded the gates of the park, were defeated and Manuela died trying to defend the city from her. This is how the name of one of the most emblematic neighborhoods in the heart of Madrid was born.
Malasaña, nestled within the University, , as explained the writer Ana Rossetti -who has devised this wonderful Map beside the illustrator Carmen García Huerta -, it limits to the south with the sidewalk of the pairs of the Gran Via , to the east with the odd ones of Fuencarral , to the north with also the odd ones of Carranza and to the west with the pairs of Saint Bernard.
And among the streets that trace this area full of cute shops and cozy cafes , we also come across other great female figures such as Rosalía de Castro, Concepción Arenal, Clara Campoamor, Rosa Chacel and Emilia Pardo Bazán.
For example, the latter writer and women's rights advocate , she lived at number 35 San Bernardo; while the warehouses Catherine of the Cerda gave rise to the High Wood and Low Wood streets, Blanca Coronel and her fish they have baptized a street, Teresa of the Cerda founded the convent of San Placido and Ana Felix de Guzman , the Jesuit novitiate.
"In the Calle de La Justa, today of the Booksellers , there is still the balcony of the soprano Giulietta Colbrand, known in the world of poetry as Julia Espin , and the plate in the place where Felipe Polo he ran her renowned bookstore, ”explains Ana Rossetti.
The illustration is the work of Ana Rossetti and Carmen García Huerta
Later it would be other women who would bet on literary justice: Rosalia de Castro she wrote the Letter to Edward ; Arenal Conception, the woman of the future ; Carmen de Burgos, The modern woman and her rights marking the path that leads us to October 1, 1931 Already Clara Campoamor Rosseti recounts.
“Rosa Chacel she came to him when he met a century of the defense of the Monteleón barracks in which among the soldiers and civilians who lost their lives, fifty-eight were women . Only three names remain: Manuela Malasaña, Benita Pastrana and Clara del Rey”.
"Rosa's years on the street of Saint Vincent Ferrer, inspired a singular novel: Wonders neighborhood . A neighborhood of women with talent, courage and generosity”, she concludes it.
Two of May Square
This illustrated map is part of a cultural project, promoted by the Madrid City Council , and is included in the central pages of the magazine eme21magazine and will be distributed soon as brochure in tourist and cultural centers, municipal libraries and in the booths of the Cuesta de Moyano.