Welcome to Madrid

Plaza de Pontejos is close to the Puerta del Sol. This is where Calle del Marqués Viudo de Pontejos begins. The writer, Benito Pérez Galdós, used Number one of this street to set the home of  Jacinta and the Santa Cruz family, in the novel, Fortunata y Jacinta. In 1980, TVE made an adaptation of Galdós’ novel with a short film series  of the same name, directed by  Mario Camus, and starring Ana Belén and Maribel Martín.

Plaza de Pontejos, which this building forms part of, has existed since 1841, when the St. Phillip Cloister was pulled down  and it was  bordered by the  Real Casa de Postas. Its name  is in memory of Joaquín Vizcaíno, the widowed Marquis of Pontejos, who was the Mayor of Madrid from 1834 to 1836.

This square and adjacent streets have housed several haberdashery shops since the mid-20th century.