For the smaller town in Extremadura, see Fuenlabrada de los Montes
Municipality in Community of Madrid, Spain
Fuenlabrada (Spanish pronunciation: [fwenlaˈβɾaða]) is📉 a city and municipality of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. As of 2024 , it has a population📉 of 193,586, making it the region's fourth most populated municipality.
Placename [ edit ]
The etymology of Fuenlabrada comes from the contraction📉 of Fuente Labrada, Spanish for "carved fountain".
Geography [ edit ]
The highest point in the municipality (721 metres above sea level)📉 is located in a hill to the northwest of the city proper. The city proper's altitude gently decreases from the📉 Northwest to the Southeast; the lowest areas in the municipality (slightly over 600 metres above sea level) are located in📉 the East, past the A-42 near the border with Getafe.
The southeast of the municipality is covered by the Polígono Cobo📉 Calleja [es], a huge economic area overwhelmingly dedicated to the wholesale distribution of Chinese imports (considered the biggest one in📉 Europe in the latter regard).[5][6]
The residential area of Loranca [es] (203.6 ha in size) lies in the west,[8] near Móstoles,📉 semi-detached from the main urban nucleus by the M-407 [es] highway.
The main hydrographic feature is the Arroyo Culebro [es], a📉 tributary of the Manzanares. Other parts of the municipality (including the Arroyo de Fregacedos) are however part of the Guadarrama📉 catchment area.
History [ edit ]
There are archeological sites tracing back the human presence in the area to the Paleolithic (La📉 Cantueña) and the Bronze Age (Casas del Cerro). Other settlements in the current municipal area, including Loranca, Albas and Fregacedos,📉 existed during the Upper Middle Ages.
The founding of the village of Fuenlabrada has been tentatively traced to the late 14th📉 century, populated by the dwellers of the nearby settlements of Loranca, Albas and Fregacedos, which had been simultaneously depopulated. The📉 first mention of Fuenlabrada, which by the early 16th century was part of the Land of Madrid, was recorded later📉 in the century, during the reign of Philip II, in the so-called Topographic Relations of Philip II. The village suffered📉 the loss of a quarter of the population in the second half of the 18th century.
While the agricultural sector of📉 the economy remained dominant, the making of rosquillas [es] and buns in the municipality became renowned among the surrounding towns📉 by the end of the 19th century. Following the end of the 1936–1939 Civil War, in which some parts of📉 Fuenlabrada endured serious damage, the Dirección General de Regiones Devastadas undertook some building works in the municipality during the 1940s📉 and 1950s.
The population experienced a demographic explosion in the 1970s, going from 7,369 inhabitants in 1970 to 65,181 in 1980,📉 the biggest relative increase in Spain in that period. The demographic growth continued in the ensuing decades.
Since the 1979 municipal📉 elections, the municipality has been a stronghold of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)[18] and has been part of the📉 so-called "red belt" of the Community of Madrid.
Politics and government [ edit ]
Mayors
Thorough its modern democratic history, the municipality of📉 Fuenlabrada has been always ruled by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party of the Community of Madrid, belonging to the so-called📉 "red belt" of the region.
List of Mayors Term Name Party 1979-1983 Manuel de la Rocha PSOE-M 1983-2002 José Quintana Viar📉 PSOE-M 2002-2024 Manuel Robles Delgado PSOE-M 2024-present Francisco Javier Ayala PSOE-M
Transport [ edit ]
Roads [ edit ]
The city is linked📉 with the M-50, A-42, M-506, M-407 and M-409 highways. It is connected as well to the neighbouring towns of Humanes📉 de Madrid and Moraleja de Enmedio through the M-413 and M-405 local roads, respectively.
Metro [ edit ]
Fuenlabrada has good transport📉 connections with Madrid, Móstoles, Getafe, Alcorcón and Leganés through the Madrid Metro line 12 (also known as Metrosur), including five📉 stations: Loranca, Hospital de Fuenlabrada, Parque Europa, Fuenlabrada Central (transfer with Fuenlabrada Cercanías station) and Parque de los Estados.
Commuter train📉 [ edit ]
Fuenlabrada is connected to Madrid via the Cercanías Madrid line C-5, a commuter train service, having two stations:📉 Fuenlabrada (Transfer with Fuenlabrada Central metro station) and La Serna.
Demography [ edit ]
Fuenlabrada witnessed a dramatic population explosion in the📉 1980s, due to large scale immigration of young workers coming from the capital city and other agrarian regions (chiefly Extremadura,📉 Castilla-La Mancha, Andalusia and Galicia) seeking affordable prices in housing. By 1975, the municipality had already reached a population of📉 18,442. Foreign workers have also settled in the city, most of them coming from Latin America, Africa, the Maghreb, China📉 and Romania.
Education [ edit ]
URJC Faculty of Law and Social Sciences
Primary and Secondary education [ edit ]
Fuenlabrada has 33 kindergarten📉 and daycare centers, 50 primary schools and 15 secondary schools.
Higher education [ edit ]
The Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (URJC) has📉 a secondary campus in the city, housing the faculties of communication sciences, telecommunications engineering, tourism, business administration, among other courses.
The📉 National University of Distance Education (UNED) also has a branch here.
Sports [ edit ]
The city is home to basketball team📉 Baloncesto Fuenlabrada, currently playing in the first tier division (Liga ACB), having competed in the top flight division of Spanish📉 basketball for several years. Their home games are played at Fernando Martín sports centre, which has a capacity of 5,700.
CF📉 Fuenlabrada is the local football team, playing in Primera Federación (third tier in Spanish league). They play as home team📉 at the Estadio Fernando Torres, inaugurated by the footballer's parents on 1 September 2011. The stadium has a capacity of📉 7,500.
Due to Yugoslav Wars, Partizan had to play abroad as the host in the 1991/1992 season. The management of the📉 club decided to "host" in the Madrid suburb of Fuenlabrada, and that season they became champions of the old continent.
Twin📉 towns and sister cities [ edit ]
Notable people [ edit ]
Roberto Jiménez (born 1986), professional footballer
Fernando Torres (born 1984), professional📉 footballer
References [ edit ]
Citations
