On July 14, 1955, a high of 31.5 degrees and a low of 19.9 degrees were expected in Madrid. This week, the newspapers announced that “in the North American Chamber, a unanimous request is made for Spain’s accession to NATO.” They also said that Elena de Bustos, “resident in Bocángel, 14”, was treated at the Casa de Socorro de Ventas for the stab wounds inflicted on her by Alejandro Gil, “resident in the same house”. That the sisters Josefa and Rosario García had been poisoned by eating fish in poor condition. That Araceli Bermúdez was elected “Carmen del Comercio 1955” at the Vallecas Fair. That Antonio Núñez Holgado from Badajoz had declared himself national champion of tractor drivers. That José María de la Blanca Finat y Escrivá de Romaní, Count de Mayalde – then Mayor of Madrid – had finally presented the prizes for the Christmas carol competition.
None of these stories got as much coverage in the newspaper as the demolition of 686 shacks north of the city. “It was called Barrio without permission. It was located more or less in the current square between the M30 Mosque and the Barcelona Motorway. More than 700 families lived there,” explains Modesto García (77 years old, Orense), a former bank teller with “several reincarnations”, former president of the neighborhood association of the Lucero neighborhood and since the late 1980s neighbor of the neighborhood of the same name.
Old images of the Lucero district. DAVID EXPOSITO
The Lucero district was planned in 1951 and its 301 houses welcomed their first residents in 1955. Each house had three rooms, a kitchen and a toilet. All in all a little more than 40 square meters. “There are different types,” explains Modesto, “there are the three-storey blocks with six houses and a common terrace and the two-six blocks with five to eleven portals divided into four houses with private entrances.” Terrace – “annejo “, says the scriptures – of about 20 square meters. You have to keep in mind that these are houses built for displaced people who came with their belongings and even animals.”
The testimonies of people who came from the neighborhood without permission, collected for an exhibition to mark the 60th anniversary of the colony, tell of the resettlement and arrival:
“They brought us here in the neighborhood, two or three families in each truck. The day they came to bring us here, there were ambulances and everything. The police surrounded the neighborhood. Nobody slept that night and when it got light the shadow of the police on horseback could be seen everywhere. They hoped there would be a problem. Some were not given shelter, there were many injustices.”
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Modesto García and Alfonso López, in the Lucero district. DAVID EXPOSITO
A cat in a window in the Lucero district. DAVID EXPOSITO
The figure of the main tenant and the secondary tenant existed until the early 1970s, so that two families had to share the premises. A family of seven could share an apartment with another family of four. Sometimes curtains were placed in the middle of the room. Three security guards from the Interior Ministry came to check the tensions created by living together. In addition, children should be forbidden to play in the streets. Or introduce a curfew for the neighborhood.
The houses in the Lucero district are simple and homogeneous dwellings, with a characteristic white color on the walls and gray on the base. Some houses have a balcony on the second floor. All roofs are pitched and flat roofed. The four blocks that house the 114 houses of the two-story model are also notable for having a single-story semicircular bevel at the corners. It was about 25 square meters of commercial space attached to a 40-person house. They housed bakeries or hairdressers. Today only the sign of Bar Quillo resists, which has not reopened since the pandemic.
The plot is slightly inclined, which leads to a slight staggering of the plots. Quilts, sheets or towels hang on the clotheslines overlooking the streets.
Sales of the Lucero district. DAVID EXPOSITO
A street in the Lucero district. DAVID EXPOSITO
To the north, a hill hosts a garden from which emerge six cedars whose branches still remind of Filomena. Also an overpopulation of parrots. Planters and trees were placed here in 1955 for opening day. They were taken away just 24 hours later.
The courtyards are one of the hallmarks of the neighborhood. “The neighbors on the ground floor have direct access to the terrace. Anyone who is on the first floor must go down the stairs to the portal to gain access,” explains Alfonso López (66 years old, Madrid), who is “a singer dedicated to construction and show business” and opens his portal to The aim is to convey the distribution of the terraces and their entrances to visitors. A first section with ten steps and a second with five steps separate the two heights.
Telephone antennas in the Lucero district. DAVID EXPOSITO
Valentín del Moral (70, Madrid) and his partner Marta (62, Madrid) met in the neighborhood. You live on the ground floor and have direct access to the terrace. “This is the living room, here’s the girls’ room, here’s our room, the bathroom and the kitchen overlooking the courtyard where the previous tenant had built another room… and whose roof we used for hanging,” they say. Valentin, who used to be a taxi driver and is still a musician, wears a t-shirt that says “Pink Freud”. He remembers how, together with Alfonso, he snuck into the orchards surrounding the colony where wheat, oats or chickpeas were grown and how a foreman came on horseback to pursue them. And that the trees grew with great vigour, thanks to the fertilizer supplied by the surrounding dairy farms.
In the mid-1970s, after more than 25 years of renting, the Housing Department offered the homes for free to residents who wanted to buy them. The price: around 25,000 pesetas. About 130 euros to change.
In 1983, in the Plaza de Remondo, where ten pine trees surround an olive tree, the end of the paving of the streets of the district, which until then were made of sand, was celebrated. On this day, the neighbors provided food and drink. The municipal council founded a music band. The then mayor Tierno Galván attended the inauguration. A photo of the performance shows Modesto giving a speech just before the concert begins. The next day, the news talked about the new stage. The barrio without a permit was definitely a thing of the past, as were the sandy streets.
Gardens of the Lucero district. DAVID EXPOSITO
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