Carabanchel is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. It lies on the southern (right) bank of the Manzanares, spanning southward down to the M-40 ring road. The district is made up of the neighbourhoods of

Abrantes Abrantes () is a municipality in the central Médio Tejo subregion of Portugal. The population was 39,325, in an area of . The municipality includes several parishes divided by the Tagus River, which runs through the middle of the municipalit ...

Comillas Comillas is a small township and municipality in the northern reaches of Spain, in the autonomous community of Cantabria. The Marquessate of Comillas, a fiefdom of Spanish nobility, holds ceremonial office in the seat of power at a small cas ...

Opañel Opañel is an administrative neighborhood (''barrio'') of Madrid belonging to the district of Carabanchel Carabanchel is a district of Madrid, Spain. It lies on the southern (right) bank of the Manzanares, spanning southward down to the M-40 rin ...

, Puerta Bonita, San Isidro and Vista Alegre.

Overview

The area was the scene of fierce fighting during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

-especially in November 1936, during the

Battle of Madrid The siege of Madrid was a two-and-a-half-year siege of the Republican-controlled Spanish capital city of Madrid by the Nationalist armies, under General Francisco Franco, during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). The city, besieged from Oct ...

, when Nationalist troops tried to fight their way into the area. Unaccustomed to street fighting, they took heavy casualties. For the remainder of the

Siege of Madrid The siege of Madrid was a two-and-a-half-year siege of the Republican-controlled Spanish capital city of Madrid by the Nationalist armies, under General Francisco Franco, during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). The city, besieged from Oc ...

, the front lines ran through the streets of Carabanchel, until Republican Madrid fell in March 1939. It was home of Spain's most notorious prison (

Carabanchel Prison Carabanchel Prison was constructed by political prisoners after the Spanish Civil War between 1940 and 1944 in the Madrid neighbourhood of Carabanchel. It was one of the biggest prisons in Europe until its closure in 1998. The structure followed ...

), which housed many

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although nu ...

s during the

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

era. The prison was closed in 1998. Carabanchel is among the most diverse neighborhoods in the country, with a large population of immigrants, mostly from

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

but also some from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...

, as well as native-born Spaniards. The Gómez Ulla Military Hospital, formerly known as ''Hospital de Carabanchel'', is located in the area.

Sports

The local football teams are the

RCD Carabanchel Real Club Deportivo Carabanchel is a Spanish football club in the Carabanchel district in the city of Madrid, Spain that plays in the Tercera División RFEF – Group 7. It is the third oldest team in the capital, after Real Madrid and Atlético ...

, It is the third oldest team in the capital, after

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

and

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based i ...

, and the thirteenth oldest in Spain and

CD Puerta Bonita Club Deportivo Nueva Puerta Bonita is a Spanish football club based in Carabanchel, city of Madrid, in the namesake autonomous community. Founded in 1942 as Club Deportivo Puerta Bonita, it plays in Tercera División B – Group 7. After a few ...

that reached

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foo ...

in 2013. The highest level reached by

was the

and on various occasions, the team has come close to promotion to the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the L ...

Geography

Subdivision

The district is administratively divided into 7 neighborhoods (): *

* Puerta Bonita * San Isidro * Vista Alegre

External links

Districts of Madrid {{Madrid-geo-stub

Overview

Sports

Geography

Subdivision

See also

External links