Mariano Jose de Larra (1809-1837) was the most critical literary voice of the first third of the Spanish nineteenth century. Whether directed against censorship, the police and the Inquisition, or mypoic social attitudes and passing fads, his writings always showcased his unique, ironic and biting temperament. Moreover, many of his essays reflected the consequences of the ongoing urbanization of Madrid. The essays titled «Jardines publicos» (1834), «La fonda nueva» (1833), «Las casas nuevas» (1833), «La vida de Madrid» (1834) and «El dia de Difuntos de 1836. Figaro en el cementerio» (1836) are republished here as a way of prompting discussion of Larra as an urban critic. Ramon de Mesonero Romanos (1803-1882) best expressed the characteristically «triumphant and triumphalist» attitude of modernity, understood as a bourgois product. The essays and excerpts of more extensive works republished here -«Los jardines del Retiro» (1840), «La casa de Cervantes» (1833), «El alquiler de un...