Why do they call Madrilenians cats?

Have you ever wondered why people from Madrid are called cats? If you have ever been to Madrid or know someone from there, you will know that this is the nickname given to those born in the capital.

But no, it is not because they have feline cunning or because they will scratch anyone who comes near them. The origin of this curious Madrid nickname has a more interesting story behind. Do you want to meet her? We explain it to you.

Why do they call Madrilenians cats

Cat is the nickname with which those born in Madrid are known todayAlthough in other times it was only used for those whose parents and grandparents were also born in the city.

Due to the high percentage of immigration from other communities and the laxity of modern times, this condition has been lost, so today the feline nickname is used for anyone who is simply born in the city, being few those cats that really are of pure strain.

But why call a Madrilenian a cat? The name comes from one of the characteristic abilities of the felines, but it is not because it is shared by all those born in the city. It was only a man from Madrid who precisely gave rise to this curious nickname.

History behind the cat nickname

The origin of the nickname of cat for the people of Madrid dates back to nothing more and nothing less than the eleventh century. At that time the Arabs ruled Spain, and what is now known as Madrid at that time was nothing more than a town called Mayrit, founded in the 9th century by Muhammad I of Córdoba.

Due to its good strategic location, which allowed controlling both the Manzanares valley and the Guadarrama mountain range, the town was turned into a fortress. To protect this valuable enclave, the town was protected with a solid wall, inside which a citadel began to form.

The citadel of Mayrit was so desired that the attempts to conquer it were considerable, but all of them failed due to its complicated situation. The fortress was at the top of a hill and the wall that surrounded it reached 12 meters high. Despite the difficulties in crossing the fortification, Caliph Abderramán requested a century later that the wall be reinforced even more intensely.

The wall that surrounded the citadel in medieval times. | Wikimedia Commons

A soldier with skills

But the myth of the insurmountable wall would end up being shattered by the intrepidity and skill of a single soldier another century later, belonging to the troops of King Alfonso VI of León.

King Alfonso VI, nicknamed “el Bravo”, decided to take the fortress with his troops in May 1085, as part of the plan to reconquer him. The real objective of the king was to free Toledo from the Muslim invasion, but for this he believed it necessary to take possession of the citadel of Mayrit in the first place.

And so it was that he commanded his troops to the city, with the idea of ​​catching the enemy by surprise in an unforeseen battle and triumphing in the conquest of the citadel. What the king did not expect was to find a wall so high and so difficult to cross.

However, one of the soldiers left everyone present speechless with an unusual feat. Without anyone expecting it, the intrepid soldier ventured towards the wall and began the risky task of climbing it, aided only by a dagger that he was driving between the stones. His skill in climbing the wall caused the king to exclaim that he looked like a cat.

Once the wall was crowned, he went to a tower and changed the Muslim flag for a Christian one. This gesture encouraged the rest to storm and take the city, and Alfonso VI's troops finally managed to seize the citadel.

Who are the cats?

The soldier stayed to live in the city and became a hero. After his feat, he was nicknamed the cat., a name that he even began to use as a surname.

This name was bequeathed to his many descendants, who are said to also add a dagger and a wall to the emblem of his coat of arms. The Cat lineage went on to become one of the most eminent families in the capital.

Over time, this nickname happened to be directed to the citizens of Madrid whose parents and grandparents had also been born within the city. Although later the name served to designate any person born in the capital.

Other theories about the origin of the nickname

This curious medieval story has come down to us as a legend and little else is known about that skilled soldier. Although an important lineage of Cats did exist, it is unknown if that story is a myth or the soldier really existed. That is why we can find many other theories that also explain the origin of this curious nickname.

One of them also comes from medieval times, but from when Madrid was already a Christian city. At that time people had to pay a tax to access the citadel. Many people tried to avoid this payment by climbing the walls, which led them to earn the nickname of cats.

Another theory indicates that the name may come from the many cats that could be found on the roofs of the Austrias neighborhood. Apparently in that area cats were abundant and it was rumored that for that reason rats were not found in Madrid.

And now you know why people from Madrid are called cats. What story do you stay with?