Caridad la Negra

María de la Caridad Norberta Pacheco Sánchez (6 June 1879 – 1 March 1960), better known by her nickname Caridad la Negra, was a Spanish prostitute and madam, renowned for her activity during the last years of the Restoration and her protection of people and property during the Spanish Civil War.

Biography Caridad was born in Cartagena in 1879, the daughter of Félix Pacheco Martínez and Rosalía Sánchez Moreno, who were natives of Algezares and Caravaca de la Cruz respectively. her dark skin tone earning her the nickname La Negra. in the popular red-light district of Cartagena, where singing bars and cafes shared space with brothels. The establishment run by Caridad achieved a certain notoriety, as men from the highest strata of the city, such as the local bourgeoisie, officers of the garrison and naval base attended. She also hid some Navy officers who had fled after the pro-republican mutiny of the navy. They formed a barrier around communist councillor Miguel Céspedes Pérez after the crowd turned on him after he called for them to disperse. Finally, appeals from both Céspedes and Republican Left councillor José López Gallego managed to calm the crowd, who left leaving the building intact. and after the war ended in 1939, she was awarded the Cross of Naval Merit by Captain General Francisco Bastarreche for her assistance to the fugitive officers in 1936. In the postwar period, she became involved in charitable works, and even mediated for victims of the Francoist repression. Caridad died in 1960, and was honoured with a great funeral procession made up of the humble sectors of society, and some of her former wealthy friends. Author José María Castillo-Navarro wrote Caridad la Negra in 1954, although in this Caridad is not the protagonist but the owner of the brothel where the story takes place.