Fuenlabrada

Sister cities

• San Juan del Río Coco
• Joal-Fadiouth

History

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 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) and has been part of the so-called "red belt" of the Community of Madrid.

Geography

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 , a huge economic area overwhelmingly dedicated to the wholesale distribution of Chinese imports (considered the biggest one in Europe in the latter regard). The residential area of (203.6 ha in size) lies in the west, near Móstoles, semi-detached from the main urban nucleus by the highway. The main hydrographic feature is the , a tributary of the Manzanares. Other parts of the municipality (including the Arroyo de Fregacedos) are however part of the Guadarrama catchment area.

Most recent

• M 3.4 — 2013-11-05
  2 km SSE of Alcorcón, Spain
• M 2.6 — 2008-06-21
  7 km SW of Guadalix de la Sierra, Spain
• M 3.5 — 2008-05-06
  5 km E of Tembleque, Spain
• M 2.9 — 2008-04-28
  Spain
• M 4.1 — 2008-04-28
  4 km ENE of Tembleque, Spain
• M 3.2 — 2008-02-26
  1 km NE of Tembleque, Spain