The Calle de Génova is a street in
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, Spain. It is the dividing line between the neighbourhoods of
Justicia and
Almagro, in the respective districts of
Centro
Centro may refer to:
Places Brazil
*Centro, Santa Maria, a neighborhood in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
* Centro, Porto Alegre, a neighborhood of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
* Centro (Duque de Caxias), a neighborhood of Du ...
and
Chamberí
Chamberí is a district of Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population ...
. It runs from the Plaza de Alonso Martínez to the
Plaza de Colón
Plaza de Colón (; ) is located in the encounter of Chamberí, Centro and Salamanca districts of Madrid, Spain. This plaza and its fountain commemorate the explorer Christopher Columbus, whose name in Spanish was Cristóbal Colón.
Monuments ...
.
Name
The street was called the Ronda de Santa Bárbara until 1859 and the Ronda de Recoletos until 1 October 1886, when the
City Council of Madrid
The City Council of Madrid () is the top-tier administrative and governing body of Madrid, the capital and biggest city of Spain.
The city council is composed by three bodies: the mayor, who leads the city council and the executive branch of it; ...
renamed it after
Genoa
Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...
, the birthplace of
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...
, whose name is carried by the square at its end.
Features
Historically, the street was in the outskirts of the city between two entrance gates erected in the 18th century: the and the
Puerta de Alcalá
The Puerta de Alcalá is a Neo-classical gate in the Plaza de la Independencia in Madrid, Spain.
It was a gate of the former Walls of Philip IV. It stands near the city center and several meters away from the main entrance to the Parque del Bu ...
, of which only the latter remains. Up until the 20th century, it had many convents and palaces.
The street is now known for the
headquarters
Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...
of the
People's Party, resident at number 13 since 1983, when the party was the
People's Alliance People's Alliance may refer to:
* People's Alliance ( ''Volksunie''), Belgian political party which split in 2001 into the Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie and Spirit
* People's Alliance (Bulgaria), a Bulgarian party from 1921 to 1923
* People's Alliance ( ...
. The building, at the corner with the Calle de Zurbano, was formerly the Palace of the Marquises of Bedmar.
[ "Génova" is used as a ]metonym
Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something associated with that thing or concept. For example, the word "wikt:suit, suit" may refer to a person from groups commonly wearing business attire, such ...
by the Spanish media for the national leadership of the party.
In September 2015, the seat of the Audiencia Nacional
The Audiencia Nacional (; ) is a high court in Spain with jurisdiction over all of the Spanish territory. It is specialised in certain kinds of crime, having original jurisdiction over major crimes such as those committed against the Crown and i ...
national court was opened at Calle Génova, though its official address is through the entry door at 1 Calle García Gutiérrez.
There is a plaque at number 24 to mark the birthplace in 1903 of José Antonio Primo de Rivera
José Antonio Primo de Rivera y Sáenz de Heredia, 1st Duke of Primo de Rivera, 3rd Marquess of Estella GE (24 April 1903 – 20 November 1936), often referred to simply as José Antonio, was a Spanish fascist politician who founded the Falan ...
, founder of Falangism
Falangism () was the political ideology of three political parties in Spain that were known as the Falange, namely first the Falange Española, the Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FE de las JONS), and afterwa ...
. At number 26, there is the , an 1888 work by Ricardo Velázquez Bosco
Ricardo Velázquez Bosco (1843–1923) was a Spanish architect, archaeologist and scholar.
Velázquez's most notable architecture was erected in Madrid, buildings such as the Palacio de Cristal and the Palacio de Velázquez (both in the Parq ...
that is classed as a Bien de Interés Cultural
(, , , ) is a category of the heritage register in Spain. The term is also used in Colombia and other Spanish-speaking countries.
The term literally means a "good of cultural interest" ("goods" in the economic sense). It includes not only mater ...
.
Twin skyscrapers designed by Antonio Lamela
Antonio Lamela Martínez (December 1, 1926 – April 1, 2017) was a Spanish architect.
Biography and works
Lamela was born in Madrid. He graduated from the Technical School of Architecture of Madrid (ETSAM) in 1954 and received his doctor ...
and finished in 1976, the Torres de Colón
Columbus Towers or Torres de Colón is a highrise office building composed of twin towers located at the Plaza de Colón (Madrid), Plaza de Colón in Madrid, Spain. The building constructed in 1976 was designed by the architect Antonio Lamela.
...
are at number 31, at the corner with the Paseo de la Castellana
Paseo de la Castellana, commonly known as La Castellana, is a major thoroughfare in Madrid, Spain. Cutting across the city from south to north, it has been described as the "true structuring axis" of the city.
History and description
The street ...
near the Plaza de Colón. 's sculpture ''Herón'' is situated outside, and in an island halfway across the road is '' Woman with Mirror'', donated by Fernando Botero
Fernando Botero Angulo (19 April 1932 – 15 September 2023) was a Colombian figurative artist and sculptor. His signature style, also known as "Boterismo", depicts people and figures in large, exaggerated volume, which can represent political ...
as the most popular piece from his 1994 exhibit.
References
{{reflist
Streets in Madrid
Almagro neighborhood, Madrid
Justicia neighborhood, Madrid