Mackay and Macdonald: Doctors in Huelva

Calle Mackay and Macdonald, located in the old San Sebastián district of Huelva, is one of the oldest streets in the city. It was named on 30 December 1921 in honour of two Scottish doctors who ran a practice in the city towards the end of the 19th century. They were also made 'adopted sons' on 7 June 1923.

Doctors William Alexander Mackay and Ian Macdonald, uncle and nephew respectively, came to Huelva through family connections with the Rio Tinto mine.

Mackay was born in Lybster, Scotland, in July 1860, and after studying medicine at Edinburgh University, he came to Huelva in 1982 to assist his brother John Sutherland Mackay, director of the medical department of the Rio Tinto Company (RTCL).

In his first years in Huelva, William Mackay initially worked as a resident doctor at the RTCL, but he went on to set up his own private practice, along with Dr. José García López, in Calle Rico, which later moved to Calle Alfonso XII and Calle Monasterio. He attended to the city's poorest people on a weekly basis and free of charge.

Ian Macdonald was born on 5 July 1873 in Argyll. Like his uncle, he also studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated in 1895 and received his doctorate in 1898. He came to Huelva when his uncle invited him to join him. Macdonald also began his career in Huelva as a doctor at the Rio Tinto mining company before going on to work in the private practice with Mackay.

Both men were central to the construction of hospitals in Huelva city and province. They also contributed to the introduction of football, golf and cricket in Huelva. Mackay was the main founder of Recreativo de Huelva football club in 1889 where he was director from 1889 and president from 1896 until 1924.

Mackay died in Scotland in 1927 and Macdonald in London in 1932. The two villas where Mackay and Macdonald lived are now privately owned and Mackay's was up for sale in 2023.