San Miguel de Salinas - the official rough guide of San Miguel de Salinas, Costa Blanca, Spain

Welcome to Pedro's glossary - here you will find the names included in Pedro's Potted Guide to San Miguel de Salinas street names, but there will also be explanations about other places or things that might be found in the pueblo...either peruse the glossary or return to the page from whence you came - we hope you found the answer. If not Ask Pedro - he will be pleased to research any question unanswered - SEARCH TIP if you are searching for something particular TRY 'Ctrl F' as there may be several references.

19 de abril	Calle 19 de abril is so named because it commemorates the date in 1979 when Town Halls in Spain were declared Democratic under the Constitution of Spain and from which date the first democratic municipal elections were held. This followed the 6 de deciembre 1972 the date that the General Constitution of Spain was ratified. Once, Calle 19 de abril was called Calle Calvo Sotelo, after the right-wing leader whose assassination in 1936 led to the start of the Civil War). After the death of Franco in 1975, and the change to the socialist government of Felipe Gonzalez, street names changed from commemorating generals and captains and marquises to left-wing writers and poets!
Albeniz	Calle Albeniz - named after Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909) the great Spanish classical pianist and composer. He was a child prodigy as a pianist, on a par with Liszt and Rubenstein. At 15, he went to Cuba with his father, a customs inspector, and gave concerts in America and then around the capitals of Europe. Later he composed music with a strong influence of Spanish folk dance rhythms. His masterpiece was Iberia, a suite of 12 piano pieces. A kind, generous man, he died in France in 1909.
Alberto Barbera	Calle Alberto Barbera - A highly respected teacher at the school in San Miguel in the 1940’s. Many of today’s elderly residents were taught by him. He is also thought to have been Mayor in 1939.
Antonio Gala	Calle Antonio Gala (1936- ) A famous Spanish lyrical poet, dramatist, author of historical novels, journalism and TV scripts.
Antonio Machado	Calle Antonio Machado (1875-1939) One of the most popular Spanish poets. His early work written in Paris, was influenced by French symbolism. His later poems were about nature and the barren landscape of Castile. He supported the Republicans in the Civil War and, when it ended, fled by foot across the Pyrenees with his mother, but became ill during the trip and died in France, his mother dying 3 days later.
Architecto Gaudi	Calle Architecto Gaudi (Antonio) (1852-1926) The leading Catalan modernist architect, inspired by a search for a romantic mediaeval past. After building the Casa Vicens in Barcelona in 1888, went on to start his most famous work, the giant, eccentric cathedral of the Sagrada Familia, to which he devoted his whole life and all his money. He lived like a recluse on the site, often begging door to door for more money, until his death from being run over by a tram. The cathedral is today still unfinished.
Arniches	Calle Arniches (Carlos) (1866-1943) A very popular Spanish playwright. Born in Alicante, he was a master of writing one-act zarzuelas (musical comedies) and sketches which played on the language and behaviour of Madrid’s lower classes. Lorca was a fan.
Azorin	Calle Azorin (1874-1967) was the pen-name of Jose Martinez Ruiz. Born in Monovar, Alicante where his father was a lawyer and mayor, he never finished his law degree but became a political radical in the 1890s writing for republican and anarchist papers. In his life, he wrote essays, criticism, descriptions of Castilian towns and villages, intensely autobiographical novels and short stories. His political views gradually moved to the right and for a period he was a conservative politician
Calderon de la Barca	Calderon de la Barca (Pedro) 17th century dramatist
Camilo Jose Cela	Calle Camilo Jose Cela - Controversial Nobel prize-winning novelist. His ‘La Colmena’ describes everyday life in the hungry post-Civil War days of Madrid with a social realism that inspired other writers.. He also wrote ‘The Family of Pascual Duarte’ In addition, Cela was a journalist, bullfighter, actor, poet and painter! He also travelled on foot throughout ‘toda la geografia espanola’. Won the Nobel prize in 1989 ‘for rich and intensive prose, which, with restrained compassion, forms a challenging vision of man’s vulnerability’. Unfortunately his reputation was vulnerable to suspicions that he informed on fellow writers to the Franco regime. Died in 2002.
Carmelo Perez	Calle Carmelo Perez – (1862-1957) A national and local hero Born in San Miguel in 1862, he was highly decorated for bravery as Captain in the Spanish army, for campaigns in Cuba and the Philippines. After retiring from the army, he became mayor of Torrevieja, then lived at Pilar de Horadada.
Carmen Conde	Calle Carmen Conde (1907-1996) Spanish poetess, novelist and essayist. Born in Cartagena, she was the first Spanish woman to be elected a member of the Royal Spanish Academy.
Cervantes	Cervantes, Miguel de (1547-1616) Spain's greatest writer was a contemporary of William Shakespeare. He fought the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto, and was imprisoned by them for over 5 years. In 1605, when he was almost 60, the first part of his comic masterpiece, Don Quixote, was published to great acclaim. He wrote other novels and plays. He died on the same day as Shakespeare on April 23rd, 1616.
Montesico Blanco	Campo de fútbol & Calle Montesico Blanco – under investigation
Pozo de Enmedio	Plaza del Pozo de Enmedio - There was reputed to be a well in this area at which Roman soldiers are said to have refreshed themselves and bathed their wounds after fighting the Carthaginians.
Del Huerto	Calle Del Huerto - There must have been an orchard or kitchen garden here.
Dr. Fleming	Calle Dr. Fleming - Named after the celebrated Dr Alexander Fleming who discovered penicillin.
Eduardo Chillida	Calle Eduardo Chillida - Internationally renowned Basque sculptor in iron.
El Molino	Calle El Molino – the mill, the base of which still survives
El Posico	Calle El Posico – suggests a little pozo or water well here.
El Zanjon	Calle El Zanjon – There was possibly a ‘zanja’, a ditch or a grave here
F. Garcia Lorca	Calle F. Garcia Lorca (1898-1936)–Brilliant poet and dramatist. His homosexuality and Republican beliefs made him a natural target for the Nationalists in the Civil War. Shot by firing squad near his home town of Granada.
Gabriel Miro	Calle Gabriel Miro - (1879-1930) Novelist and short story writer born in Alicante. One of the ‘Generation of ‘98’, he is known for his intricate, difficult style and rich vocabulary. He loved to use unusual combinations of words and cadences. He wrote sensuous, haunting novels about the beauty and cruelty of nature and man.
Galant Delgado	Calle Galant Delgado – under investigation
Garcia Marquez	Calle Garcia Marquez (1928- ) – the famous Latin American novelist and short story writer. Nobel prize winner in 1982.
Gongora (Luis de)	Calle Gongora (Luis de) (1561-1627) famous 17th century lyric poet from the Golden Age. Chaplain to King Philip 3rd, and bitter enemy of writer Quevedo (q.v.), who even bought the house Gongora lived in just to evict him.
Goya , Francisco de	Calle Goya , Francisco de (1746-1828). He began designing tapestries, and painting frescoes for churches, then became in 1799 court painter to Carlos IV. His most powerful paintings though were inspired by his horror at the invasion of Madrid by Napoleon’s troops in 1808. His painting of the execution of Spanish patriots by a French firing squad in 1814 movingly shows the terrible reality of war.
Jaime 1, La Plaza	Plaza Jaime 1 in the vicinity of The Casa Cultura takes its name from The Christian King of Aragon and Catalunya (1217-52). Jaime 1 was five years old when he came to the throne and had a five-year struggle to keep it from powerful nobles. From 1229, ‘El Conquistador’ did much to shake off the Muslim grip on Spain, first taking the Balearic Islands, then Valencia, Alicante and Murcia, cleverly allowing Muslims to keep their lands and their religion under his rule
Joaquin Martinez	Calle Joaquin Martinez - named after The Mayor of San Miguel in the mid-5o’s, and the father of Corrina, whose website has an excellent history of the village.
Joaquin Ortuño	Calle Joaquin Ortuño – A notable of San Miguel in the 1930’s, he was a rich landowner, but was well-known for being a man of great integrity, totally apolitical, and with a wallet always open to help the poor.
Joaquin Rodrigo	Calle Joaquin Rodrigo (1909-1999) The composer who first popularised the guitar as a classical instrument. Tragically, he was blinded by diphtheria at the age of 3, and studied music in Braille. In 1927 he went to Paris where he was a friend of the composer Falla. A brilliant pianist he used a special machine to compose in Braille, and in his life wrote ballets, film scores, songs, zarzuelas (comic operettas) as well as classical pieces like his famous ‘Concierto de Aranjuez’(1939) a blend of baroque and flamenco, for guitar and orchestra.. His music evoked places and landscapes with lyricism.
Jose Ros	Calle Jose Ros - named after the parochial Priest of San Miguel de Salinas Church after 1939.
Juan de la Cierva	Calle Juan de la Cierva (1895-1936) A pioneer of rotary flight. Born in Murcia, and fascinated by flight, he became an aeronautical engineer, and invented the autogiro, which combines the capabilities of a plane and a helicopter. This precursor of the helicopter was replaced by it at the start of World War 2. De la Cierva moved to England in 1925, and died in a aircraft crash near London in 1936.
Juan Manuel Galant	Calle Juan Manuel Galant after a local property owner in San Miguel, the uncle of Juan, the owner of today’s Collie Bar and Juan Antonio’s Pelluqueria underneath it. The property, which was first a carniceria and then a tobacconist, has been in the family for generations.
Juan Mateo Box	Calle Juan Mateo Box Born in 1907 in Madrid but spent his life in Alicante province. He was an inspector of public works, but his passion was the castles of Alicante province, many of which were in terrible decay and upon which he became a considerable authority. He even published in 1953 a history of them. He was a particular expert on the triangular Moorish castles of Novelda and La Mola., and was president of Los Amigos de los Castilos en Alicante.
Juan Mateo Vera	Calle Juan Mateo Vera - After a respected lawyer in San Miguel who originally came from Madrid. The father of Juan Mateo Box(q.v.)
Juan XX111	Calle Juan XX111 - Pope John XXIII, born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (November 25, 1881 – June 3, 1963), was elected as the 261st Pope of the Catholic Church
Las Escalericas	“Las Escalericas” is the name given to the part of the mountainous mountain range, in vicinity of Urbanization Ciudad de las Comunicaciones - The City of Communications perticularly to the part that crosses the highway CV941. It probably means "little stairs" (-ica and -ico are commonly used diminutives in these parts, as an alternative to -ita and -ito). Corrina & Foxy (forum)
Las Zahurdas	Finca & Calle Las Zahurdas – Arabic name meaning ‘the other side’. There was once a fortified Arab farmhouse or finca here. The ruins of a tower still survive. This farmhouse/finca will shortly be subject of an article.
Lope de Vega	Calle Lope de Vega, Felix – (1562-1635) poet and comic dramatist who wrote almost 2,000 plays.
Los Carteros	Literally “The Mailmen” referred to in Urbanization Ciudad de las Comunicaciones as originally all the resident came from the Organization of Rural Mailmen of Spain, a project undertaken by Antonio Costa, father of Antonio of PC BYTE, who was The President of all the Rural Mailmen of Spain and obtained places where members were able to buy a house for vacations. And as the Spaniards we tend to simplify it everything, we began to call “the Mailmen to him”. 'Los Carteros' es el nombre ,que popularmente se le da en San Miguel,a la urbanizacion "Ciudad de las Comunicaciones",por que en un principio,todos sus habitantes eran procedentes de la Organizacion de Carteros Rurales de España..Fué un proyecto que realizo ,Antonio Costa ,padre de Antonio de PC BITES..que por aquel entonces era el Presidente de todos los Carteros Rurales de España,y consiguió para ellos un lugar donde poder comprar su casa de vacaciones.. Y como los españoles tendemos a simplificarlo todo,empezamos a llamarle "Los Carteros". Corrina (forum)
Luciano de la Calzada	Calle Luciano de la Calzada - Named after a professor of philosophy and literature at the University of Murcia (1944-74)
Maestro Alonso	Calle Maestro Alonso – named either after Alonso Mudarra (1508-1580) Spanish composer and player of the vihuela (a guitar-like member of the viol family) for which he wrote many pieces. OR: Alonso Lobo (c.1555-1617) Spanish composer, maestro de capella at Toledo and Seville cathedrals. Wrote masses and motets in the style of Palestrina.
Maestro Chapi	Calle Maestro Chapi - named after Ruperto Chapi(1851-1909) Son of a barber, he studied music at Madrid and Rome before becoming famous as a composer of zarzuelas (Spanish popular comic operas)of which he wrote over 155.
Maestro Serrano	Calle Maestro Serrano – after Jose Serrano(1873-1941). Born at Sueca, Valencia, he was a prolific composer of around 50 zarzuelas (Spanish m popular music theatre) as well as the famous Hymn to Valencia.
Maisa Lloret	Calle Maisa Lloret - famous Spanish gymnast, she was born at Villajoyosa near Alicante in 1971. She was the first Spanish gymnast to get a perfect score of 10’s. It happened at the Spanish Championships in 1988 on the clubs routine. Now works for the Spanish Gymnastics Federation in the marketing department.
Miguel Barcelona	Calle Miguel Barcelona - Named after the Mayor of the village during the Civil War who did much to prevent atrocities being committed.
Miguel Garcia Galant	Calle Miguel Garcia Galant - After a well-known San Miguel carpenter.
Miguel Hernandez	Calle Miguel Hernandez (1910-1942) Poet. A self-educated goatherd from a poor family at Orihuela, he was helped by a local vicar to read the classics. He published his first book of poetry at 23. He fought in the Republican army in the Civil War.After the war he was arrested several times for his republican sympathies and sentenced to death. This sentence was commuted to 3 years, but he spent his remaining years in several prisons in very harsh conditions, eventually dying of TB in prison He wrote a lot of poetry behind bars, the most moving being about the death of his infant son, and to his wife and second son who had a huge struggle to survive without him.
Miguel Perez Mateo	Calle Miguel Perez Mateo - After a San Miguel doctor who was in charge of the Hospital Perpetuo Socorro in Alicante.
Murillo (Bartolomeo Esteban)	Calle Murillo (Bartolomeo Esteban) 1618-82 - Painter. The youngest of 14 children of a Seville barber, he was adopted, on his parents' death, by a well-off aunt. After being apprenticed to a painter, he went on to paint many major religious pictures and frescoes for churches and monasteries. He was the first Spanish painter to achieve wide European fame, using soft forms and warm colours not only in religious scenes but in portraits. The story goes that while painting in a church in Cadiz, he fell from a scaffold and died soon after.
Padre Jesus	Calle Padre Jesus after Father Jesus de Orihuela, a popular priest and teacher in San Miguel in the 1930's and 1940's.
Pablo Neruda	Calle Pablo Neruda (1904-73) The Chilean poet, diploma and politician. His poetry reflected the socialist commitment of the Salvador Allende government, pleading for liberty and justice for the poorest in society. As a diplomat, he was Chilean consul in Ceylon, Burma, Java, Singapore as well as Madrid. He won the Nobel prize for literature in 1971. During the Civil War he was a republican, and knew Lorca.
Pablo Picasso	Calle Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) The prolific 20th century master, founder of modern art, was born in Malaga, spent his formative years in Barcelona before moving to Paris in the 1930’s.
Pio Baroja	Calle Pio Baroja (1872-1956) gifted turn-of-the-century novelist.
G.A. Becquer	Plaza G.A. Becquer – Gustavo Adolfo Becquer (1836-1870) born in Seville of a Flemish father, hence the un-Spanish surname, and Spanish mother, he was a poet, short-story writer and graphic artist of great talent.
Quevedo	Calle Quevedo (Francisco de) The 17th century writer of the Golden Age. Well-known for his picaresque novel ‘La Vida del Buscon’, or ‘The Swindler’ and other stories of rogues who cheated their way through life without working.
Rafael Alberti	Calle Rafael Alberti (1902-1999) Of Irish-Italian parentage, he was first a painter, then a poet and dramatist. A friend of Lorca, Dali and Picasso, he was a republican in the Civil War. After it ended, he fled to Argentina, where he painted, then Rome, only returning to Spain in 1977.
Rafael Narbona	Calle Rafael Narbona (1911-1972) Prize-winning novelist and journalist.
Ramon y Cajal	Ramon y Cajal, Santiago(1852-1934) - after the great Spanish neurologist who was a pioneer in the structure of the nervous system, the brain and the spinal chord. Shared the 1906 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine wth Camillo Golgi.
Ruben Dario	Calle Ruben Dario (born 1867) Prolific Nicaraguan poet, journalist and novelist
Ruiz Caracena	Calle Ruiz Caracena – under investigation
Salvador Allende	Calle Salvador Allende - – socialist president of Chile. He attempted to redistribute wealth, but met with widespread strikes and food shortages. His power was undermined by the American CIA., and was overthrown in a military coup during which he died by gunshot.
Salvador Dali	Calle Salvador Dali (1904-89) The leader of the Surrealist movement in painting, he is probably most famous for his dream-like images such a soft clocks. A self-publicist, he was also a writer and film-maker in later years. Lived at Figueres on the Costa Brava. Says he could remember being born.
Severo Ochoa	Severo Ochoa(1905-1993) - after the Spanish-born biochemist and molecular biologist who received(with American Arthur Kornberg) the 1959 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discovering an enzyme in bacteria that helped him synthesize ribonucleic acid(RNA) which helps us understand hereditary information in genes.
Sorolla	Calle Sorolla (Joaquin) 1863-1923) Valencian impressionist painter best-known for his brilliantly-lit Mediterranean beach scenes, and portraits of ordinary people.
Tomas Perez Castano	Calle Tomas Perez Castano - After the general secretary of the town hall at San Miguel in the 1950's and 1960's.
Vicente Blasco Ibanez	Calle Vicente Blasco Ibanez (1867-1928) Valencian novelist, travel writer and politician. One of the few Spanish novelists to enjoy international renown. As a young man he edited El Pueblo, the Republican newspaper. In 1896 he was arrested and given two years hard labour. In 1923 he went into exile. He is famous for his war novels including ‘Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’, a tragic novel about World War One and its effects on society. But his best novels are regional, set in Valencia itself, displaying social realism about ordinary working people’s problems. His masterpiece was ‘Canos y Barro’ (Reeds and Mud) 1902 a tale of forbidden love and conflicts between fishermen in the village of Albufera. His books were so popular he died a wealthy man.
Velazquez	Calle Velazquez , Diego de (1599-1660) The greatest painter of Spain’s Golden Age. Born in Seville into minor nobility. Started out painting kitchen and tavern scenes, then went on to religious scenes and portraits. In 1622, he went to Madrid where he became court painter to Philip 4th. Rubens persuaded him to travel in 1629 to Italy where he first saw the works of Titian. In 1649, he painted Pope Innocent X, which His Holiness thought ‘too truthful’. In his magnificent ‘Las Meninas’(1656) he shows the Infanta Margarita and all her courtiers, a scene that includes a self-portrait, and the reflection of his patron Philip 4th reflected in a mirror. He died in the Prado palace.