This is the house of Vicente Aleixandre where he received García Lorca or Miguel Hernández and which is auctioned

The home of Vicente Aleixandre It was a meeting place for poets and writers of the time, but it was also much more, because within these four walls, the Nobel Prize for Literature (awarded in 1977) devised most of his work, and there he received the first copies of ‘ Ámbito ‘, which marked his debut. Now Velintonia, The name given to the house because it was the one that previously had the street on which this house is located, located in the Madrid neighborhood of Chamberí, It will go up to public auction.

This neighborhood, in which celebrities such as Elsa Pataky and Chris Hemsworth have invested and where Díaz Ayuso moved to rent after winning the elections, is one of the best known in Madrid. In addition, it has some points of cultural interest, such as the Sorolla Museum, created in the artist’s own house and which can be visited, preserves the original atmosphere and the painter’s workshop, and is an example of one of the options being considered for Velintonia.

From the Association of Friends of Vicente Aleixandre They have always defended the need to conserve this space, since what the artist lived between these four walls is part of his own history. Here Federico García Lorca played the piano, in it Aleixandre listened to the ‘Sonnets of dark love’, those that were published and those that were lost, and some of the most relevant figures of the generation of 27 passed through this house, as well as others literati of the time, like Miguel Hernández. This house, converted into a refuge for the artist, was left uninhabited in 1986, two years after the poet’s death, when his sister Concepción passed away.

This proposal It has been on the table for years and it has been supported by numerous names in the culture, from singers, such as the singer Miguel Poveda, to writers, who see in it a possibility of protecting the poet’s legacy. “It is not only past that we lose if we lose Velintonia. It is the possibility of a future in which we are not ashamed to be. It is memory, dignity, hope that we lose if we lose it, “said the writer and playwright Alberto Conejero, as stated on the association’s website.

Finally, has not been expropriated to create a House of Poetry, how the association defended; in fact, it will go up to public auction and will be sold as long as the starting price is covered, which is estimated at about 4.7 million euros, as specified in Idealista, where they report the sale of the property. Due to its relevance and cultural interest, the Ministry of Culture of the Community of Madrid has declared it Asset of Heritage Interest (BIP), a decision that seems not to satisfy anyone because of what it implies.

Those who were committed to conserving the space as it is and turning it into a tribute to the life and work of the nobel see how their hopes are blurred, because the housing can be sold to an individual, that it will do with it what it deems appropriate, being able to change part of its structure. How can you not change everything and there are areas that must be respected Because it is considered BIP, like the façade or some rooms inside, it could be an obstacle when it comes to selling it, which would be detrimental to the profits of the heirs. The poet’s great-niece, Amaya Aleixandre, always had the illusion of power reach an agreement with public administrations, but it seems that this has not been possible.

Home, close to the metro that now bears the name of Vicente Aleixandre -and that was previously called Metropolitano-, it is a single-family house, with three floors and 630 square meters. As stated on the real estate sale website, the unevenness of the land makes one of the floors turn into a sort of semi-basement with direct access to the rear, which is a garden in which it is located the cedar of Lebanon, a tree of great value and that it is protected, that it was planted by the writer in 1940.

It has six bedrooms, two bathrooms, the aforementioned garden and storage room. They report that the structure is metallic, while the facades are made of solid brick; the roof, sloping to four slopes, has a wooden structure. A house that marked Aleixandre’s life, as he spent a lot of time in it because of his fragile health.

“I live in this house since 1927 “, Aleixandre explained, a few words collected in the special program ‘For three reasons’. “I always say, as a dear memory, that I came to this house being an unpublished poet. Later, in it I have been doing the things of my life over the successive years, which are now close to 40 “.

“As for work, the way of working, before I told you that this library of mine is the place where I read, but not the place where I write “, the poet continued to reveal.” Because by chance of a very long serious illness that I suffered in my youth, I in my desire to write and forced to a very long rest of years had to start writing lying on the bed. So, I got into the habit of working in bed and today I can say that all my books, all the ones that I am in my life, have been written in bed ”.

A house steeped in history that is now for sale, as has happened with other noble buildings such as that of the Countess of Romanones. What was the home of one of the most important poets of his time – and of many later – is loaded with memories and it seems that he will soon embark on a new adventure.