Voces del Prado

Coal for heating the house

José Torreblanca Prieto, Grandson of José Prieto, Lead Concierge, 1936-1948

It was a spacious house but that was all, as it certainly didn’t have any comforts. There wasn’t a bath, for example. At that period having a bath in the house was a luxury. The top floor had three windows that let in a lot of light, one looked onto the Jerónimos and the other onto the Museum. That was our home.
I think it had a large kitchen and about 4 or 5 large bedrooms. I did my homework in the kitchen as that was the only place where you could keep warm. I think that one of my grandfather’s perks was having free coal. That was important as the house was unbelievably cold. The winters were extremely cold in those days. Now people complain but I’ve seen the four fountains by the Botanical Gardens frozen over on many mornings.