From Pipa Square to Pizza Square: Streets Only True Alicantinos Know

Have you ever been told to meet at Punkis Square and wondered how to get there? Or perhaps at Pipa Square or the Palomas Park? If you're one of those who doesn't leave home without setting the destination on Google Maps, don't bother. It's better to go out and ask a local, especially an older one, for directions. Despite their notoriety, these names are mere nicknames given by the people of Alicante to certain city spots.

If you grew up in Alicante, you likely played in Palomas Park as a child. While children's games have evolved over time, the shade of the ficus trees in Calvo Sotelo Square has provided respite from the heat for generations. That's the official name of this space, which has also earned other nicknames. Years ago, one of its corners housed a Cortefiel store, making it a popular meeting point in Alicante. Even today, despite the brand having left the area years ago, many still arrange to meet at Cortefiel.

A simpler reference is Correo Square. This place was never officially named as such, as the Alicante street map honours the local writer Gabriel Miró. However, for years, the mansion presiding over the square's southern side served as a post office, leading many to visit this building to send and receive letters and packages. Yet, this iconic Alicante spot has had other nicknames, including Barcas Square - it is said that boats once reached there - or even Putas Square, due to the presence of several nightclubs in the area.

One of the more modern nicknames is Mushroom Street. This spot is nothing more than the street dedicated to San Francisco. However, in 2013, Mayor Sonia Castedo decided to remodel this street, giving it a new look, and since then, more than a dozen giant mushrooms have adorned this space. The street has become one of Alicante's gastronomic centres and a tourist attraction.

In the Alicante street map, there are many other examples where the official name does not match popular wisdom. The Bola de Oro Square is, for many, Pipa Square, or the musician Óscar Tordera Square is Punkis Square, and San Cristóbal Square earned the nickname Tombs Square after its late 90s renovation.

There are also other cases related to businesses opening in the area. Thus, the 25th of May Square - commemorating the bombing by Italian fascist aviation in 1938 - is known by many Alicantinos as Flower Square due to the florists that populate the kiosks behind the Central Market.

Something similar happened with Plaza América, known to many as Pizza Square, which once had up to four establishments of this Italian specialty in the same roundabout. Although only one remains at the corner with Devesa Street, this name has persisted in the collective imagination.

Alicante's fondness for renaming spaces extends not only to the city's streets and squares but also to monuments and buildings. This is the case with another of the city's quintessential meeting places: Luceros Square. Around the Bañuls fountain, many still meet at Los Claveles, even though the florist disappeared years ago. Its founder also has a green area in Playa de San Juan, the Inmaculada Pérez florist park.

There are also other spaces like the Monument to Freedom of Expression, which for years presided over the Avenue of the Station and is now located on Gran Vía. For many Alicantinos, these iron giants are known as the Guns of Navarone - a 1961 war film.

The V Centenary Bridge has long been the Red Bridge. The House of the Witches is remembered by no one as the Martínez Azcoyia House. Who knows if soon the Peret will join this list. The Alicante City Council has put the traditional Explanada kiosk up for a new tender, and it seems likely to lose its official name, though it will surely live on in the memory of Alicantinos.