Los últimos de Las Barranquillas

Las Barranquillas was a large informal settlement on the southeastern edge of Madrid, near the Valdemingómez landfill. For decades, it was characterized by self-built housing, social exclusion, and later by intense police presence linked to drug trafficking and forced evictions. The settlement was dismantled in 2007 due to urban development interests, but planned construction was halted by the 2008 real estate crisis, leaving the land undeveloped for years. On December 2025, the area is mostly open ground, although one family rebuilt their house on the site where they were born and continues to resist eviction. How long they will remain is uncertain, as urban construction has started again. Their presence can be heard from a nearby hill on the evening of Christmas Eve.