Vallecas

Vallecas [baˈʎekas] is a neighborhood of Madrid composed of two districts: Puente de Vallecas (population 240,917) and Villa de Vallecas (population 65,162). Vallecas was an independent village until 1950 when it became part of Madrid.

Overview

Vallecas is also known for its working-class inhabitants who are very proud of their district and name it familiarly as Vallekas or Valle del Kas. Thus, Vallekas and many other occurrences of the k instead of the c or qu in Spanish words, an anti-orthographic attitude'.

The local pride coalesces around the Rayo Vallecano football team.

During the 60s, many Spanish immigrants to the Madrid conurbation settled in Vallecas, forming the largest slum area around Madrid.

During the decades of Franco regime, Vallecas earned its reputation as a neighbourhood of resistance to right-wing dictatorship.

In this tradition, Vallecas is also home to Spain's most renowned ska band Ska-P, popular all over Europe and famous for its anarchist and leftist lyrics.

In the last years, the district of Vallecas Villa experienced an important enhancement with about 25.000 new flats and houses called "PAU de Vallecas" or "Ensanche de Vallecas", one of the biggest new areas in Madrid. Professional footballer Álvaro Negredo is Vallecas most famous export. Nicknamed " The Beast of the Vallecas", Negredo currently plays for Valencia CF.