This March's publication is a marvel!
Reading it, this book has brought me closer to the neighbourhood of Malasaña and its ins and outs, but also to what I consider most important: getting to know the forgotten and the unmentioned.
Women as well-known as Emilia Pardo Bazán, Rosalía de Castro, Clara Campoamor and Julia Conesa lived in the neighbourhood, and, along with them, others more unknown, such as Blanca Brisac, the greengrocers and the 58 women who lost their lives on 2 May 1808, of whom only three names remain: Clara del Rey Calvo, Benita Pastrana and, of course, Manuela Malasaña. In addition to the surprises that you will find while reading the book... Mahou had a female founder! Yes, a woman, her name was Carolina Valentina Mahou and she did what her father could not do, she brought beer to Madrid, and she also endowed the first library in Braille for the school for the blind in San Bernardo 68.
In this way, the history of a part of our city, whose name has always belonged to its neighbours, is constructed in a natural and fluid way, which is why it was first called El Refugio (The Shelter) and then, became Maravillas, and is now our beloved Malasaña (let's hope that its next name is not Airbnb).
In short, it is a book that makes us part of the adventures and events of one of the most beautiful and popular neighbourhoods in Madrid, always through its women, who, little by little, are included in the memory of the people.
That is why, this 8th March, I am going out into the streets to remember them, to be more aware than ever that we are also the ones who shape the history of our cities and neighbourhoods, because thanks to Libros de las Malas Compañías (Bad Companies Books), they are already in my memory.
Claudia Pérez Herrero
