In the 1960s, Calle Mayor, formerly Avenida del Generalísimo, was paved with cobblestones and wide pavements adorned with rectangular plant beds, which contributed to its ornamentation. The architectural evolution can be seen in its buildings: the modernist houses, such as the Vicent-López house, on the corner of the Garden, in whose mezzanine floor was located the Balmes School, directed by Encarna Martínez Barberán, and the Cobarro house, which reflect the social and commercial importance that the town acquired with the industrial development of the canning and lumber industry from the beginning of the last century. In the 1940s, residential buildings with a ground floor for commercial use were built on the corners of Calle Eras and Calle Princesa. All these houses were commissioned to the most important architects of Murcia, within the local panorama of the first half of the 20th century.
On the other corner of the “Jardín de los Mártires”, as it was called from the beginning, is the famous “Casa Federo”. For more than three decades it was the largest and most central hostel-restaurant in the town and was the usual accommodation for travellers and military personnel who joined the Air Base, until it was moved to Calle Tranvía at the end of the 60s of the 20th century.
Opposite the garden, there is a three-storey building with modernist grilles. On the ground floor was the Renfe Central Office and a confectionery-ice-cream shop founded by Daniel Marín. This building was demolished at the end of the 1970s, together with the adjoining dwellings, opening up a new section to connect Calle Mayor with Calle Cruz, and modern buildings were erected on the site. In 1987, during the works for the large sewer, the remains of one of the Civil War air-raid shelters were discovered in Calle Mayor.
This section of the street reflects the social and commercial activity that the Calle Mayor has always had, with houses that gave prestige to Alcantarilla’s main thoroughfare.
