WALKING UNDER “LUNAS EBRIAS” AND THE POETIC CONSTRUCTION OF A CITY: FERNANDO BELTRÁN’ S “AQUELARRE EN MADRID”

Abstract

Aquelarre en Madrid was written in 1980 and published three years later. It became one of the poetic referents for the Movida madrileña. Moreover, Fernando Beltrán, the author of this book of poems, found there a relief from the dark personal situation he was living at the moment, as he wrote it wandering the streets of Madrid throughout nine days and nights. Since the first poem titled “Madrid», the young poet from Asturias, whose image is related to that of a flâneur theorized by Walter Benjamin, describes the
city as a subjective urban landscape with a recognizable street map (including constant mentions to specific locations of Madrid like the Plaza del Dos de Mayo or the Embajadores neighborhood). However, his activity seems to develop in a specific context in which the poet only encounters night, women, alcohol and friendship, and uses them as guides for his night walks. Therefore, Beltrán creates in Aquelarre en Madrid a night and ethylic city, which seems to be meaningless outside the poetic context, and which is absolutely dependent of the personal experience of its creator. The aim of this study is to identify and analyze the features of this Madrid conceived by Beltrán, so different from other works of the poet, such as “Gran Vía», his 5th book of poems published in 1990.