Vallecas
Encyclopedia
Vallecas 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.
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. Notwithstanding, unemployment and criminality rates are higher than Madrid average, as well as the public services are more scarce and with lower quality.
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
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-classWorking class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
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
Orthography
The orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...
attitude'.
The local pride coalesces around the Rayo Vallecano
Rayo Vallecano
Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D., often abbreviated to Rayo, is a Spanish football team based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas...
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
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
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
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
band Ska-P
Ska-P
Ska-P is a ska punk band formed in , Spain, in 1994.The band can be categorized, politically, as an anti-establishment musical group. It is one of the most popular ska bands in Spain, Europe, and Latin America....
, 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. Notwithstanding, unemployment and criminality rates are higher than Madrid average, as well as the public services are more scarce and with lower quality.
External links
- Vallecas Todo Cultura (in Spanish)
- paudevallecas.org (website of a neighborhood-organisation in the new housing area in the district of Vallecas Villa, with web-forum, in Spanish)