Iñaki Domínguez Madrid
Madrid
Updated Monday, February 26, 2024-00:00
Vicálvaro
is a district of Madrid that was once an independent town, a place with a lot of history.
One of the most recognizable places in the neighborhood today is the
Rey Juan Carlos University
, which was previously an artillery barracks.
In front of the university there is today a military colony, where some continue to live.
My friend Vega, a neighborhood informant, tells me that "houses are only inheritable by military daughters if they are not married."
The barracks was dismantled since there could not be barracks in urban centers.
Vicálvaro is a unique place, which has its own jargon and expressions.
Among them stands out: "How you comb your hair."
Which means: "How you do it" or "how well you do it."
A small line of cocaine is also often referred to there as "reset."
It is often said: "I'm going for a reset."
Vega: "In Vicálvaro to be a true friend of someone you have to know both of their last names and who their parents are."
Mario Vaquerizo
grew up in Vicálvaro.
“He has always been very posh,” Vega tells me.
«Since he was little he was in love with
Alaska
.
We were laughing and he looks... he married her.
"This is a neighborhood of respect," he adds.
«It doesn't matter if you are strong.
It is important, if you are from the neighborhood, how rooted you are.
"The majority of people from Vicálvaro marry people from Vicálvaro."
The gypsy village of Vicálvaro.BD
According to what my friend tells me, in Vicálvaro certain traditional values, solidarity, are kept alive.
Most of the neighbors choose the neighborhood to continue living and that is why they all know each other.
«People still have the feeling that this is a town.
But legally, it ceased to be a town on October 20, 1951.
immigrant community
According to what he tells me, in Vicálvaro foreign immigrants are perfectly integrated.
There are many
Romanians
and a large
Dominican community
.
Vega assures me that there is no problem, that "they are super nice people, super workers, super collaborators, super in love with Spain.
Many of them claim to be Spanish.
We are very lucky.
They are Vicalvareños.
Vega introduces me to his cousin, Valentín González: «I was a waiter at the
Sagitario
bar .
Pedro, one of the Brujos gang, helped me when someone threatened me at the bar.
I'm talking to you about '73.
Another emblematic place was the
Barrabás nightclub
: «I remember going there and seeing Frutero, a tough guy.
He only let me in because I was going with Peseta.
Then there was the Tusset: «I worked there as a waiter in '76. It belonged to the Colao family.
The Chichos were going
.
In fact, on one occasion one of them stabbed a boy from Vicálvaro.
Las Grecas also came.
At that time they played Boney M and things like that.
It didn't close very late, but it was full: the track, the seats.
"I was at the top."
Vega: «El Tusset was later related to Carlos el Babas, who called him that because every time he spoke he spat at you.
Then they called it New Tusset.
He closed in '93 due to a move.
"The son of the owner of the premises had a dispute with the doorman and, when the one with the Tusset came out, the son of the owner said that they would not rent it to him again."
Today the place of the Tusset is occupied by a Chinese restaurant.
Interior of a shanty in a town of Vicálvaro, at the beginning of the century..Bernardo Díaz
The rivalry between Vallecas and Vicálvaro
has always existed, especially in past decades.
The gang members of the 70s and 80s belonging to each neighborhood carried out real pitched battles.
As Valentín tells me: "If someone from Vallecas tried to flirt with a girl from Vicálvaro, he would leave hot."
Legend of the Virgin
That said, not everyone knows the origins of said feud.
In the National Historical Archive there is a document from 1738 that talks about that rivalry and the fights.
“A shepherd was going with his flock through the area of the Virgen de la Torre,” Valentín tells me, “and, suddenly, he found a grotto with the image of a virgin in the background.
The shepherd, who was from Vallecas, takes her to his town.
When Vicálvaro's people found out, they said no, that the image was his.
They began to discuss and finally decided to take her half way for one, half way for others.
That pilgrimage continues to be celebrated.
They take the image from the hermitage of Vallecas, of San Pedro ad Víncula, to the hermitage of the Virgen de la Torre.
And then they send it back after six or seven months."
He continues: "As they could not agree because there were still quarrels, they made a bonfire at the top of the
Almodóvar hill
and decided that the town in whose direction the wind blew would be left without the hermitage and without the image. It is said that "Those from Vallecas wore very long black capes that they moved surreptitiously, making the smoke blow for the Vicalvareños. We were left without the hermitage, without the image and with the name of the smokers."
As I have already said, in Vicálvaro there was a military base and disputes also arose: «When there was a fight between the Vicalvareños and the military, the entire Guard Corps came down and they could warm up more than one.
They could go down, for example, to the Barrabás nightclub and there there were their pluses and minuses.
Fights broke out over any stupid thing.
Vega intervenes: "Vicálvaro is famous because the girls are very pretty and that was a cause of quarrels."
Of the university students who study in the town, Valentín tells me that: «They barely interact with people.
Today in Vicálvaro there is nothing for people to entertain themselves.
Before there was the Barrabás, the
Tusset
, the bars on Avenida Real.
Vega adds: "he is dead."
It's a shame that such a busy neighborhood has completely lost its nightlife.
Inaki Dominguez
He is the author of
Macarras interseculares
, edited by Melusina, [you can buy the book here],
Macarrismo
, edited by Akal, [you can buy the book here] and
Macarras ibéricos
, edited by Akal, [you can buy the book here] and the
Latrue story of the Moco Panda
.
[you can buy the book here]