Urban gardens in Arganzuela (Madrid)

Hello to all Farmers! How’s that summer going? We continue to walk through the Gardens of Madrid, specifically today with the urban gardens of the Arganzuela district.

Arganzuela is a district of the city of Madrid, comprising the territory east of the Manzanares River. It is organized administratively in the neighborhoods of Imperial, Las Acacias, La Chopera, Legazpi, Las Delicias, Palos de Moguer and Atocha. It limits, to the north and northeast with the districts of Centro and Retiro; to the east and southeast with Puente de Vallecas; to the south with that of Usera and to the west with those of Latina and Carabanchel, do you remember their orchards?

The territory of the district of Arganzuela is the natural extension to the south of the historic town of Madrid. The availability of public land facilitated the installation of industrial uses, central markets, such as the Central Fruit and Vegetable Market, where, as we will see, we currently find an urban garden, and slaughterhouses. The Green Railway Corridor Action Plan entailed the disappearance of practically all of the industrial facilities and the creation of parks and cultural centers on dumps, such as the Enrique Tierno Galván Park, or old municipal facilities, such as Matadero Madrid or the Invernadero Palacio de Cristal, in the old slaughterhouse.However, the most striking feature of the district today is, without a doubt, the Madrid Río Park, a pedestrian and recreational area built on both banks of the Manzanares River, on the underground route of the M30 motorway.

Following the latest trends in the district, its neighbors have managed to form two urban gardens. I won’t make you wait any longer, let’s meet them!

URBAN ORCHARDS IN ARGANZUELA

Urban garden La Revoltosa del Pasillo Verde

La Revoltosa was born from a group of residents of the Pasillo Verde, who wanted to take care of the neighborhood, so they dedicated themselves to cleaning and transforming a plot of land that they later turned into their urban garden.

The site is located in Plaza de Peñuelas, bordering the plaza itself and Calle el Labrador, in the space left by an old corrala. It is a small municipal lot whose qualification is «dotational use».

Since August 2013 and after a dismantling on October 29, 2013, the neighbors have managed to recover the space as a neighborhood garden and a socio-cultural and educational space. Achieving the legalization of the space as a green space and community garden is not an easy task, because for this they have had to write about 4 projects, become the neighborhood association La Revoltosa del Pasillo Verde and put a lot of emphasis on the cause.

Although they have not yet achieved it, they remain as a legal orchard, thanks to the effort and support of the neighbors and other urban orchards in Madrid.

If you want to accompany them to clean, take care of the garden or simply spend time with the neighbors and share your experiences, you know where to find it. They are sure looking forward to meeting you!

La Sanchita urban garden

The name of the orchard comes from a legend that supposedly gives rise to the name of Arganzuela, although there are other explanations. One day when Queen Isabella the Catholic was walking through Madrid, she was thirsty and a girl named Sancha, a native of Daganzo, gave her water. The queen, as a sign of gratitude, ceded those lands to the girl, which became known as «Daganzuela», due to the origin of the girl, which she later derived in Arganzuela.

Heirs to the good heart of Sancha, a group of neighbors from the Arganzuela and Usera neighborhoods have come together to revitalize an abandoned space, the old Legazpi Fruit and Vegetable Market. To do this, they have been inspired by other neighborhood movements, such as the Espacio Vecinal Arganzuela (EVA) or the La Revoltosa orchard, which we have talked about previously. As a result of all this, this garden was born, a space open to everyone, where you want to show that if you want, with a little effort and sacrifice, you can.

The residents of Arganzuela laid the foundations for the birth of this new meeting point from initiatives of the Arganzuela Neighborhood Space, which demanded the use of the Fruit Market, which has not been used for more than 10 years. The neighbors got together to start planting this urban garden, next to the market on Vado de Santa Catalina Street, 309 on land classified as road. Fate has wanted vegetables to grow where vegetables once dwelt.

From La Sanchita a message is launched: invite the neighbors to participate in the urban garden, «planting illusion, harvesting the common good and, above all, cultivating the neighborhood».

In addition, in the garden they have the collaboration of the students of the CEIP Miguel de Unamunos, who participate in the garden work on the first and third Thursday of each month.

Everything remains to be done, everything remains to be discovered, so if you want to stop by and participate in the garden, they work on Sundays from 6:00 p.m.

This is all from my side, I hope you have enjoyed getting to know these orchards and that you are encouraged to stop by and take a look.

Until the next stop!