Alejandro Busuioceanu

The Alejandro Busuioceanu memorial plaque in Madrid honors a Romanian poet, essayist, and art historian who spent the final and most productive years of his life in the Spanish capital. The site sits in the Salamanca district, on the building at Calle General Pardiñas 32, and is one of the few markers in Madrid dedicated to a figure of the Romanian exile community.

Who was Alejandro Busuioceanu?

Alexandru Busuioceanu was born in 1896 in Slatina, Romania. After the Second World War, once a communist regime took power in his home country, he settled permanently in Madrid, where he remained until his death in 1961. In Spain he adopted the Hispanicized form of his first name, Alejandro, and wrote in both Romanian and Spanish — an unusual feat even among educated émigrés. He worked as a poet, essayist, art historian and critic, translator, and university lecturer, and had earlier served as a Romanian diplomat.

Busuioceanu quickly integrated into post-war Madrid's intellectual circles. He belonged to the Academia Breve de Crítica de Arte, an informal group of critics and artists founded by Eugenio d'Ors that promoted modern and contemporary Spanish art during the difficult years of Francoist cultural isolation. He collaborated with poets of the so-called second post-war generation, including Luis Rosales. He was also among the founders of the first Romanian Institute of Culture in Madrid, an institution meant to keep cultural ties alive between the Romanian diaspora and its homeland at a time when returning to communist Romania was impossible for many exiles.

What will you see on site?

The main memorial is a plaque on the facade of the building at General Pardiñas 32, where Busuioceanu lived from 1945 to 1961 — essentially his entire Madrid period. The plaque was unveiled in February 1968, several years after his death, at a ceremony attended by literary and cultural figures of the era, including Enrique Suárez de Puga, Luis Rosales, and the writer Vintilă Horia, himself a Romanian exile settled in Spain. Its inscription reads, in short: "In this house lived Alejandro Busuioceanu, Romanian poet of the Spanish language," underlining the singularity of his bilingual body of work.

A second, more recent memorial is a plaque unveiled in February 2022 at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, on the second floor of Building D of the Faculty of Philology, at the entrance to the department of Romanian language and literature. This site ties Busuioceanu's legacy to the city's academic life and to the continuity of Romanian studies in Madrid.

The building itself on General Pardiñas is typical residential architecture of the Salamanca district — an elegant, quiet neighborhood well away from tourist crowds, which makes a visit here a calm, reflective stop rather than a headline attraction.

How do you get there?

The Salamanca district lies east of central Madrid, between Paseo de la Castellana and Retiro Park. The easiest approach is by metro to Núñez de Balboa or Diego de León station (line 5); from either stop, General Pardiñas is a few minutes' walk. The area is also well served by city buses running along Calle de Alcalá and Paseo de la Castellana.

When should you visit?

Since this is a plaque on a residential building, it can be seen year-round at any hour — it's visible from the street. It pairs well with a broader stroll through Salamanca, known for its elegant boutiques and turn-of-the-20th-century architecture; spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons for walking this part of the city.

Frequently asked questions

Is this a statue-style monument? No. The memorial takes the form of a commemorative plaque on a building facade, not a classical statue or monument.

Who was Alejandro Busuioceanu? A Romanian poet, essayist, art historian and critic, diplomat, and lecturer who settled in Madrid after the war and wrote in both Romanian and Spanish.

Is there an entrance fee? No, the plaque is on the exterior facade of a private residential building and can be seen for free from the street.

Are there other attractions nearby? Yes, the location sits at the heart of the Salamanca district, close to Paseo de la Castellana, Calle de Alcalá, and the elegant boutiques and cafés of this part of Madrid.