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 county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Spain. 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 concelho, municipality in the central Médio Tejo Subregion, 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 ...

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 castle ...

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 ...

, Puerta Bonita, San Isidro and

Vista Alegre Vista may refer to: Software *Windows Vista, the line of Microsoft Windows client operating systems released in 2006 and 2007 *VistA, (Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture) a medical records system of the United States ...

Overview

The area was the scene of fierce fighting during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

-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 Second Spanish Republic, Republican-controlled Spain, Spanish capital city of Madrid by the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist armies, under General Francisco Franco, ...

, 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 a prison located in the Carabanchel neighbourhood of Madrid, Spain. It was opened in Francoist Spain in 1944 to house political prisoners after the Spanish Civil War. Carabanchel Prison was one of the biggest prisons in ...

), 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 ...

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" * Franco of Cologne (mid to late 13th cent ...

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

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

, mostly from

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

but also some from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

, as well as native-born Spaniards. The

Gómez Ulla Military Hospital The Gómez Ulla Military Hospital (), presently know officially as ''Hospital Central de la Defensa Gómez Ulla'', is a military hospital in Madrid, located in the Aluche area in the former Carabanchel quarter of the city. It is part of the Spa ...

, 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 . It is the third oldest team in the capital, after Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid, and the thirteenth oldest i ...

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

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

and

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

, and the thirteenth oldest in Spain and CD Puerta Bonita that reached

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: 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 ...

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, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

Geography

Subdivision

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

* Buenavista *

* Puerta Bonita * San Isidro *

References

External links